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Monday,
February 19, 2001
Las Vegas Review-Journal
UNION
ELECTION:
NY-NY Dealers Reject Union
The
Transport Workers is dealt another lopsided
defeat by workers at the MGM Mirage property
By
SHARON GERRIE
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Casino dealers at MGM Mirage's New York-New York handed the
Transport Workers Union of America another defeat by voting more
than 4-to-1 against union representation Saturday night.
Of the 324 eligible dealer voters at New York-New York, 251 voted
against the union with 57 voting for the union. One vote was
challenged and thrown out because the voter was a part-time dealer
who also worked in anther casino department.
"Tonight dealers at New York-New York reaffirmed that the
best way for them to secure their future is to continue to work
closely with our management team," Felix Rappaport, president
and chief operating officer of New York-New York, said in a
prepared statement Saturday night.
"This vote by our dealers represents a firm rejection of the
need for third-party representation by the TWU. This union has
displayed a complete lack of understanding of the simple truth
that our dealers and management work on the same team," he
said.
Of the nine dealer union elections scheduled in Las Vegas since
Jan. 20, dealers have voted against unionizing at six casinos.
Dealers at only two casinos, the Tropicana and the Stratosphere,
have voted in favor of union representation. One election, at the
Luxor, was withdrawn by the union before a vote was taken.
Rappaport said with the election behind them, the management team
and the dealers would continue to work together without "the
intrusion of third parties."
Frank Trotti, an organizer for the Transport Workers Union, said
before Saturday's vote at New York-New York, the elections where
dealers voted against a labor contract are baffling to union
organizers.
In September and October 2000, Trotti said, more than 80 percent
of the Las Vegas dealers signed cards indicating they wanted union
representation. But now that the dealers have the opportunity to
vote on representation, they are not stepping up to the plate,
Trotti said.
Labor law requires 30 percent of the eligible potential bargaining
unit to request representation before a union can enter a market
and attempt to organize.
"But," Trotti said, "these elections are part of an
educational process for them (dealers). We are willing to take the
time it takes to make it (the union) happen."
Trotti said Saturday the Transport Workers Union would continue to
move toward contract negotiations for dealers at Carl Icahn's
Stratosphere and Aztar Corp.'s Tropicana.
Casino properties where dealers have voted against representation
are the MGM Mirage's MGM Grand and New York-New York, Mandalay
Bay's Monte Carlo, the Riviera Holding Corp.'s Riviera and Park
Place Entertainment's Las Vegas Hilton and Bally's.
Future elections are scheduled for Phil Ruffin's New Frontier on
Friday, Mandalay Bay's Excalibur on March 3 and MGM Mirage's
Treasure Island on March 10.
Michael Chavez, regional director for the National Labor Relations
Board, certified the election with 308 valid ballots and one
challenged ballot.
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