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Caesars officials say
talks stalled
Resort will apply provisions from
offer sent to dealers
By ARNOLD M.
KNIGHTLY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Dec. 30, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
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Gamblers
fill the casino at Caesars Palace on
Jan. 30. An official from Caesars
owner Harrah's Entertainment said
the hotel-casino has reached a
stalemate in contract negotiations
with unionized dealers.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
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Caesars Palace
officials said contract talks with
unionized dealers have broken down
after nearly two years of
negotiations. Therefore, Caesars
officials said, the hotel-casino on
Friday will begin implementing many
provisions outlined in a final
contract offer sent to the dealers
union in August. Las Vegas Dealers
Local 721, meanwhile, has filed
charges with the National Labor
Relations Board accusing the
hotel-casino of bargaining in bad
faith and refusing to bargain.
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Union director Joseph Carbon said Monday that he is
scheduled to give a deposition Jan. 5 to the labor
board claiming that Caesars' representatives were
merely going through the motions when they met with
the union to negotiate an agreement.
"The nature in which they've been bargaining, it's a
shame," Carbon said. "That people are not afforded a
good contract and Caesars has done nothing but
surface-bargain."
The contract impasse came after 30 meetings between
Caesars and the dealers, said Marybel Batjer, vice
president of communications for Caesars owner
Harrah's Entertainment. The dealers approved
unionization in December 2007.
"The parties have remained apart and we don't
foresee a resolution on a number of issues," she
said.
Batjer said Caesars unsuccessfully tried to schedule
more talks with the union after a session in
November.
Carbon, however, said Caesars refused to set new
dates.
The provisions coming Friday will change dealers'
401(k) retirement plans, vacations and health
benefits to bring dealers' benefits in line with
Caesars' other workers.
In February, Harrah's suspended its matching
payments for employees' 401(k) contributions because
of the economic downturn. The company has continued
to match the dealers' contributions while union
negotiations continued.
"The dealers have been benefiting, particularly in
the area of vacation and (paid time off) and the
401(k) match for two years, in many ways, benefiting
greater than their colleagues and co-workers,"
Batjer said.
The dealers union talks stalemated over other
issues, including seniority and the handling of
dealers' tips, which now are shared among dealers
and overseen by a dealers' tip committee.
"They want to stick a contract down our throats that
is all their language," Carbon said. "Basically, the
current contract is the majority of their language
and they refuse to move off certain issues and
refuse to discuss them."
Batjer said Harrah's is not changing its tip policy
now. But she added that management at each property
has the right to review tip policy.
"What we have always contended is that management
has the authority to modify and implement procedures
pertaining to the pooling and distribution of
gratuities," Batjer said. "That's what we've always
maintained. That doesn't mean we're going to
exercise the authority. We maintain the authority."
Wynn Las Vegas dealers are still without a union
contract, too.
The Wynn dealers, however, want to wait for a
decision on the tip-pooling case now before the
Nevada labor commissioner before ratifying a
contract.
Labor Commission spokeswoman Elisabeth Daniels said
Tuesday that her office's ruling, which was expected
to come next month, might not come until April. This
is because Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek needed
more time than expected to review the 55 hours of
testimony from the hearing.
Some dealers told the Review-Journal that they were
concerned that ratifying a union agreement now could
influence the labor commissioner's decision.
Carbon, however, downplayed that concern, saying:
"It's not something that can be submitted in
briefs."
He predicted that the tip issue, which involves Wynn
Las Vegas' decision to let some front-line
supervisors share in the dealers' tip pool, will
eventually be decided in the courts.
"We may be years away from a final decision being
rendered," he said.
Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at
aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. |
