What will your members do about it?

Tony Badillo, President
International Union of Gaming Employees
P.O. Box 71961
Las Vegas, NV 89170

March 11, 2008

Mr. D. Taylor
Culinary Local No. 226
1630 S. Commerce St.
Las Vegas, NV 89102

Dear Mr. Taylor:

I write this letter to frame a simple question:

“Why would you, Mr. Taylor, the leader of a union which represents thousands of tip earners, align yourself, on February 26, 2008, with Mr. Steve Wynn who is mounting an effort to kill a voter initiative to make employer tip confiscation unlawful?”

And, more important:

“Why would you, Mr. Taylor, do this without disclosing your actions to your own union members?”

I have personally spoken with friends and relatives who are members of Local No.226 and they have all assured me that members have not been informed that the Local No. 226 leadership favors Mr. Wynn’s tip confiscation policy.

I consider myself one of the original founding members of Local No. 226, dating back to the 1950’s, and the actions you are now taking are in direct contravention of fine history and flawless reputation of the union, as I knew it.

I have been the head of the International Union of Gaming Employees, a Las Vegas labor movement for over 20 years, and in my opinion, a union leader should be enhancing and protecting members income, not diminishing it.

I have no way of knowing what your motivation is to support Mr. Wynn in his war with tip-earners. It has been speculated that this support you offer is in return for his granting the Local 226 a ten year contract. Could it be that it is time for payback? But, of course, I have no way of knowing if that is true. Only you can know why you took this stand against your own members.