After a labor action so brief it barely merits the word "strike," Perini Building Co. came to terms with the Southern Nevada Building & Construction Trades Council. The former showed responsiveness to the union's concerns, while the latter demonstrated to its members that it has sufficient clout to get The Man's attention -- and fast.

Everybody came out smelling like roses ... except MGM Mirage, that is. In a series of public statements, the company didn't hesitate to push construction workers under the bus, telling the Las Vegas Sun's Alexandra Berzon "that safety problems are attributable to workers not following procedure," in her words. It also issued a blanket endorsement of its contractor, saying to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "We're supportive of whatever Perini chooses to do." (Press release-wise, the company is pretending the whole unpleasantness never happened.)

Do this mean that if Perini had chosen to stonewall the Trades Council and wait it out, MGM would have been down with that (cost and delay be damned)? You'd think, as Perini's nominal boss, MGM might evince a modicum of concern with the situation, instead of simply bestowing a papal benediction and otherwise acting as though the CityCenter confrontation was somebody else's problem.

Even after a settlement was reached, MGM opted for the Nixonian, "modified limited hangout" line of response, issuing a statement that -- in part -- said the company insisted "individual responsibility [should be] foremost in the minds of every worker every day on the job site." Well, if nothing else, they're consistent.

To make amends, the company should employ its investment clout in Dubai, where it soon hopes to be building, to push for improved conditions for the country's imported construction workforce. The government there has taken some modest steps to relieve the exploitation of guest workers (who constitute 99% of the labor pool*). Still, they are relegated to crowded dormitories, out in the middle of nowhere, and toil under circumstances that resemble indentured servitude.

(*--try to imagine how that scenario would play in Vegas!)

If MGM Mirage were to export its normally (present circumstance excluded) enlightened labor policies to Dubai, and to make that a precondition of building any luxury hotels there, it would go a long way toward effacing the black eye it's received for the CityCenter safety fiasco.

One casino heir just doesn't get that, as Hugh Jackson puts it, organized labor, "more than any other entity is responsible for the existence of a middle class in Las Vegas, a phenomenon which in turn forms the backbone of a consumer core for every other business enterprise in Southern Nevada and thus accounts for most that is good in terms of quality of life 'round here."

As the Perini/Trades Council agreement proves.