They're  out   at   half   past noon on a hot July 6 to protest Wynn  Resorts' controversial practice of redistributing tip money to include middle management. The Nevada Supreme Court, having deemed the matter outside its jurisdiction, has kicked it back to the office of Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek. On Tuesday, Tanchek convened hearings on the matter, with no date set for a ruling.

Although tip-sharing is one of a few "very touchy subjects" remaining at issue in contract negotiations, according to Transport Workers Union negotiator Joe Carbon, if Tanchek rules in Wynn's favor, it's over. Last week, Carbon even sounded resigned to an adverse outcome, saying, "We intend to cooperate in the gratuities as per the law.

"We're not that far apart," was Carbon's assessment of the talks between Wynn and the TWU, which is representing dealers at both Wynn and Caesars. Aside from restoring all tips, Carbon's remaining sticking points are the desire for a grievance-and-arbitration system for terminated dealers and for them to be able to count their tokes. He says the union is amenable to Wynn's current progressive-discipline procedure, except for at-will termination and suspension. "We would like it to be for just causes," Carbon says, adding that Wynn management prefers nebulous "business reasons."

(Several CityLife approaches to Wynn executives produced this frosty response from PR supremo Jennifer Dunne: "Wynn Resorts will not comment or participate in this story. But we will forward this to our attorneys and if they choose to, will be in touch before your Monday deadline." [They weren't.])

As for tip-counting, "We have a tentative agreement at Wynn," Carbon said, whereby a dealer committee would observe -- but not participate -- in the count. Wynn blackjack dealer Lisa Randall, whose husband serves on the TWU executive committee disputes that: "They have suggested that they might [compromise] but they have still come out and said, 'You're not going to be in there to watch it.' They said we might be able to look at the tapes."

Although negotiations have been slogging away for two years, the TWU hopes to reach an accord with Wynn at the next bargaining session, slated for Aug. 5. College of Southern Nevada history professor Michael Green isn't fazed by the length of the process.

"Traditionally, talks involving a union that really had never existed before do take much longer than the ones we have come to expect," he writes in an e-mail. "But this is a bit protracted, and I don't doubt that the labor side is disorganized and the management side is dug in."

University of Nevada-Las Vegas history professor Eugene Moehring adds that the TWU is bucking the tide in the casino industry, pushing for management concessions at a time when unionized and non-unionized workers are doing most of the give-backs.

"From what I hear," Moehring says, "the hotels are doing a great job of destroying union benefits ... We are the next Detroit because Detroit's auto workers are out of work!" That, Moehring adds, is the real story of Las Vegas in the last 18 months. Due to the recession, "It's a great time to chip away at workers' rights."

While the TWU has tried to make the case that its fight is for all tip-earning employees in Nevada, few have rallied to its standard. The lone non-Wynn or Caesars dealer at Monday's protest was one from the Venetian, where management has taken a hands-off stance on tips.

When organizer Al Maurice appealed for support from three area unions, he received the following reply from Bartenders Union Local 165 Secretary-Treasurer Terry Greenwald, "All UniteHere Locals, including Bartenders Local 165 Culinary Local 226 UniteHere Local 54 are not getting involved with any protest. We do wish the dealers the best of luck in their organizing efforts." (Calls to Greenwald and the Culinary's Pilar Weiss were not returned.)

Although Labor Commissioner Tanchek had allotted three days for the hearings, few dealers were expected to testify -- a half-dozen at most. Wynn, for its part, was alleged to be skipping the hearings altogether, sending in his stead Don Laughlin, owner of the Riverside Resort in the town that bears his name.

Why Laughlin? Because he was the first casino owner in Nevada to reallocate dealers' tips to pit bosses and floormen. "When they all share, there's harmony among management and employees. There's no hatred and no jealousy," he said in a laudatory 2007 Las Vegas Sun profile. (Laughlin did not respond to a CityLife request for confirmation.)

If Wynn is employing Laughlin as his proxy, this might complicate Tanchek's ruling. Per the Supreme Court's dictum, he must interpret NRS 608.160, which passed in 1971. But Laughlin has been redistributing tips since 1966 and may enjoy "grandfathered" status. Although former state Sen. Donald Mello, the law's co-author, has been quite vocal in opposition to Wynn's tactics, which he maintains are what the law was intended to prevent, Green says that may not matter. "I think the Labor Commissioner will use whatever statutes and precedents there are," he writes. "Intent is important, but what the law actually says probably will weigh more heavily."

Wynn blackjack/craps dealer Leo Gemma warns of dire economic consequence if the Wynn/Laughlin practice spreads. "This is going to cripple the economy out there," he predicts. "You think the foreclosure rate's high now? Wait 'til all the tip earners take a 40 percent cut in their pay. Then you're going to see it."

Estimates vary as to how much dealers have lost in tip income (a conservative figure is 15 percent), but that's been complicated by the depression's impact on casino play. "The people are still coming," Randall says. "They're spending less. They're definitely tipping less."

Adds Gemma, between the blare of passing auto horns, "I'd say from the time we opened -- not even counting the money we're paying the floormen -- 40, 50 percent it's gone down. They made the claim when this whole thing happened, 'We need to fix the discrepancy in pay because the dealers are making more than the supervisors.' Well, now that's not the case. If they weren't in on the tips, we still wouldn't be making more than them, so that's bullshit."

Asked what will happen if Tanchek rules against them, dealers put on a brave face and say they'll maintain their service ethic and live with the decision. But their words and tone of voice suggest that resentment will linger, barring a favorable outcome.                                                                                            [up]