By Rolando Larraz
               Las Vegas Tribune

Recently, a California Superior Court Judge ordered Starbucks Coffee to pay its California baristas millions of dollars in back tips that the corporations’ coffee outlet’s counter servers were forced to give to store shift supervisors.

The court also issued an injunction preventing the coffee chain shift supervisors from sharing in future tips that belong to the servers. In Las Vegas, casino owner Steve Wynn is doing the same thing with the casino dealers, and not one judge takes a stand for the employees who are usually paid less than the minimum wage.

What Wynn is doing is not only illegal, it is also unfair and arbitrary. It goes against all codes of decency and humanity. The dealers have the International Union of Gaming Employees. As their IUGE fights the battle against a powerful casino mogul many people fear, it finds itself facing another powerful union that sides with Wynn — even if its members are also predominantly tip earners.

The Culinary Union claims 60,000 members, and each pays $42 a month in dues, $2.5 million a month in income, almost $31 million a year. Instead of coming to the rescue of its counterparts in the casino industry, the powerful Culinary Union opted for backing Wynn in his unfair tips practice, thinking that he would not do the same to its members.

The Starbucks employees were lucky to have an attorney fighting the case for them. The Las Vegas dealers don’t have a mega-attorney, nor does the IUGE have the resources to counter the political influence of Wynn. The dealers, having little faith in their union, do not want to spend more money to hire a very good attorney who could get them out of the dire situation they are now facing, and a problem which will later extend to bartenders, food and cocktail servers, valet parkers, bell persons and even bus persons and bar helpers, not to mention maids and casino porters.

We believe this is the time, beginning with the dealers, the union needs to realize that the money taken in on more union dues for competent legal help is insignificant compared to the money workers stand to lose sharing their tips  with  supervisory  personnel

whose salaries start at almost three times what dealers earn. As Terry Chapko, an attorney for the food and beverage counter workers of Starbucks Coffee, said, “Starbucks should be paying their shift supervisors a supervisory wage, not compensating them through tips that legally belong to baristas.”

In Nevada, a good and honest attorney should be stating similar opposition to tip stealing: Wynn and other casinos should be paying their shift supervisors a supervisory wage, not compensating them through tips that legally belong to the dealers.

We understand that Steve Wynn is involved in a lot of local charity work, and he also contributes to candidates’
political campaigns, among them judges, but that should not be an obstacle for them to rule fair and square on the legal aspects of this matter.

We give Wynn all the credit that he deserves, but as we have stated before, we cannot give him the credit
that he doesn’t deserve, regardless of how much money he has or how many judges he may have in his pockets. Those days are over.

Culinary Union leader D. Taylor should reassess his position and remember that he is a union man and
should stick with brothers and sisters — regardless of whatever deal he struck with the casino operator to have him sign the last contract. Taylor should remember his own words that he spoke to the union members advocating they endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president, paraphrasing it to state: “Just because you work as a maid or dishwasher or at any other job, does not mean that you are not intelligent enough to make a serious decision.”

Workers in the hospitality industry today are not the same as they were 20 years ago. Today, they get more involved in issues and are computer literate, and have all the information at their disposal. Taylor may think that he can fool his people as easily as drinking a glass of water, but he may wake up with a shocking surprise, finding no members in his union.

All the dealers working in Las Vegas casinos — Wynn’s or not — should remember that together they can win; and in order to win, they need the support of their unions, because unity is strength.