Although it’s been on a roll lately, the Culinary Union got some very bad news this week. The Station Casinos house organ, otherwise known as the Las Vegas Review-Journal, reported that a large number of Sunset Station employees were petitioning the decertify the Culinary as their bargaining agent. First, given the amount of progress (i.e., none) made in long-running Sunset labor talks, frustration would be understandable. Second, you have to wonder how much better employees would fare negotiating with Station all by their lonesome.
The alleged discontent must be immense for a majority of Sunset workers to have signed such a document—especially after 80%-plus of them voted for unionization five years ago. That’s a long time to wait for recognition, although the matter may not be so simple as it appears at first glance. Station Casinos wasted no time in withdrawing from such talks with Culinary as were taking place. In retaliation, the Culinary is going to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, a venue in which Station has lost over and over again. “Union busting is disgusting, and the Culinary Union urges Station Casinos to do better,” fumed Culinary boss Ted Papageorge, feeling understandably vexed.
Mind you, the news wasn’t conveyed to the press by the employees themselves but by Station management, whose record for veracity is not the finest, to put it politely. Time and again, Station has promised publicly to honor secret-ballot elections, only to foot-drag, stonewall and whine when it came time to negotiate. Given that Station has never, ever signed a pact with the Culinary (and doubtless never will so long as the far-right Fertitta Brothers are calling the shots), it’s pretty clear who’s been negotiating in bad faith. How is Station to maintain those profit margins that Wall Street loves if it pays its employees a living wage?
What appears to have gone down at Sunset is the promise by Station to pay anti-union employees more favorably than pro-union ones. The company loves to kick the ball onto the fairway in this fashion, having done it before. To give you some idea, the Culinary has helpfully provided some golden oldies from the text messages of Palace Station General Manager David Horn. For instance …
Horn: “Phil says to get me the names of the people who can help with decertification but don’t get directly involved.” (January 11, 2020)
Or there’s this …
Horn: “I got the dertification of the Union completed. We submitted to them yesterday. Fucking lost part of my life in taht [sic] process. Craziest deal ever.”
Terry [?]: “Awesome, congratulations! You have to be approaching golden boy status.” [September 22, 2020]
We’ll bet he was. All that’s missing is the duo gleefully rubbing their hands and maybe kicking a dog for good measure. Station’s next measure is certain to be to promise “enhanced benefits” to employees at Station properties where the Culinary’s presence is still suffered by Station management. And don’t expect the board of superannuated frat boys that oversees Station to lift a finger to help workers. One tries to cut Station slack but they can’t resist playing the role of Snidely Whiplash at regular intervals.
Although the mainstream media is trying very hard to ignore it, a new poll strongly suggests that the wind has shifted on smoking in Nevada casinos. Public tolerance for this noxious manifestation of Big Gaming’s detachment from reality is waning. 58% of Silver State citizens surveyed would support a bill to outlaw smoking at indoor workplaces (yes, casinos included) with only 39% in opposition. To even have a smoking-tolerant workplace of any sort shows how out of step Nevada is, humoring the 13% who smoke over the 87% who don’t.
Where slot machines are in Nevada, there (generally speaking) is the disgusting aroma of cigarettes. And if smoking were banned at all casinos, not just Park MGM, where would truculent smokers go in order to retaliate? Casino smoking is banned in most tribal gambling halls and in the overwhelming majority of private-sector casinos. Maybe they’d sulk at home, playing Internet casinos … but Big Gaming gets that money, too. Las Vegas isn’t going to wither up and die if smoking is ixnayed and neither is Reno. (Laughlin on the other hand … )
It’s intolerable and morally untenable that gambling should benefit from a double standard. What makes casino workers lives less worthwhile, we ask? And why should casinos become “sacrifice zones,” in which the health of worker and customer alike is forfeited to the almighty bottom line. Enough already. Let’s put it to a vote.
I’m sure the residents feel that way. However, Las Vegas is unique due to the fact that it is an international destination. A lot of other countries have a far different view of smoking. In particular the Asian communities. Given the hit that Las Vegas took when Macau gaming took place, it’s easy to see their reluctance. Macau has blown right past Vegas for largest gambling market.
Atlantic City has both smoking and non smoking areas. It seems to work pretty well. Maybe that should be the next step. Remember, Atlantic City fought to get smoking back after the Pandemic. They didn’t do it to lose money.