I was interested to see your Vegas News blurb about Starboard Tack being the best late-night restaurant in Nevada. Thanks for the history. I ate there, if I recall properly, in the mid-'80s. But I was a little surprised you didn't talk about the car bombing of the union boss in the Tack's parking lot at some point. I always thought that was its claim to fame.
In the mid-1970s, Las Vegas was racked by labor disputes that bordered occasionally on the violent.
Elmer “Al” Bramlet, secretary-treasurer of Culinary Workers Local 226 and president of the Nevada AFL-CIO, sought to organize off-Strip restaurants and expand union influence. Bramlet was known for using hardball tactics to pressure non-union businesses, including prolonged picketing and, eventually, more extreme measures.
From 1975 onward, several non-union restaurants in Las Vegas were targeted in incidents amid this labor war. Bombings occurred in 1975 at Alpine Village Inn and a bar a year later; both venues were resisting unionization.
Then on January 24, 1977, law enforcement found two sophisticated improvised explosive devices planted in vehicles outside two non-union restaurants. One was outside the Village Pub on Koval Lane (now Ellis Island), the outside the Starboard Tack on Atlantic Avenue on the east side of town. The bombs were rigged so that opening the car doors would trigger a massive explosion. Fortunately, both devices failed to detonate and the police bomb squad managed to disarm them.
As for who placed the bombs and why, investigators connected both to a father-and-son team, Tom and Gramby Hanley, long-time Las Vegas toughs known for arson and improvised explosives. Bramlet allegedly hired them to plant the devices to put pressure on non-union restaurants.
For their work, the Hanleys expected to be paid $17,000 in total, reportedly, with a portion up front. But when the bombs didn't explode as planned, Bramlet refused to pay the remainder of the agreed sum. Considering what happened shortly thereafter, that might have been an unwise decision.
About a month after the attempted bombings, the Hanleys kidnapped Bramlet as he arrived at the airport on his way home from a trip. They forced him into a van and convinced him to pay what they were owed for the bombings. Although Bramlet tried to comply by arranging a payment, the deal fell apart. The Hanleys then drove him into the Nevada desert near Mount Potosi, shot him, and buried his body in a shallow grave. His remains were discovered weeks later by hikers and quickly became a national news story.
The Hanleys eventually pleaded guilty to Bramlet’s murder and were sentenced to life in prison. One of their associates testified against them in exchange for a lighter sentence.
As for the aftermath, though Bramlet had built Local 226 into one of the most powerful labor unions in Nevada, his leadership was marred by allegations of violence, corruption, and ties to organized-crime figures. The 1977 attempted bombings and his murder marked a violent low point in Las Vegas labor history — and helped spur later reforms in union governance and law-enforcement oversight.
