If Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli is any indicator, Wall Street is sanguine almost to the point of complacency about contract talks in Las Vegas. He calls the chances of a strike “low” although he thinks 
negotiations could drag on for several months past the June 1 deadline: “Recall, in 2013, the Culinary Union remained in negotiations with some Strip operators for several months post the June, 2013 contract expiration, ultimately agreeing to a new deal in November, 2013.” Of the publicly held companies, Wynn Resorts, Station Casinos and Las Vegas Sands (naturally) will be unaffected. Good for them. Penn National Gaming and Boyd Gaming, with three unionized casinos between them, have limited exposure. The brunt of a strike would fall on MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, part of the price of consolidation.
MGM would be particularly affected by a strike, which would cover 65% of its workforce. Santarelli is modeling a 2.5% wage increase into his financial projections, even though the Culinary has said the casino companies are offering 2.7% (and the Culinary wants 4%). Noting that “the delta between proposed (2.7%) and requested (4.0%) equates to just $17 mm,” Santarelli calls the risk “negligible.” Culinary employees nonetheless crashed the Caesars 
shareholder meeting yesterday to air their grievances with the Roman empire. The wage issue, however small, seems to be a significant sticking point. Flamingo housekeeper Diana Thomas said, “We want fair wages, a pension so we can retire with dignity and we want to protect our health plan. But the company made basically the same economic proposal it made in the Great Recession. The recession is over.” Indeed, Caesars appears to be shamelessly stingy for a company that is about to enjoy a three-year tax holiday and recently wiped out over $10 billion in debt. We will continue to follow developments with interest.
* The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is on the hook for $11 million after a Texas appellate court upheld a jury verdict that the tribe was ultimately responsible for a fatal, 2013 crash of a bus carrying Lone Star State senior citizens to the casino. The driver of the bus in question was too busy arguing with the organizer of the junket in question, thereby losing control of the vehicle with deadly results. Attorneys for the Choctaw tried 14 different arguments on the appeals court and every one was nixed. In memory of the four deceased victims of the crash and the 40-plus injured, we fervently hope that the Choctaw have found a more reliable charter operator. And that they pay up promptly.
* While we’re on the merry subject of death, it should be noted that one of the better things to come out of the Mandalay Bay Massacre is an anthology featuring the writing of Neil Gaiman and several other writers. Where We Live: A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas is described as essays on “gun violence, common sense gun control, value of a compassionate society, mental health stigmatization, aftermath of tragedy and how individuals and communities persevere.” Proceeds will go to Route 91 Strong, a nonprofit for families affected by gun violence. It’s certainly a more proactive approach than that taken a few days ago by Sen. John Cornyn (R), who blamed the Santa Fe shooting rampage on the schoolchildren who were targeted. That’s right: Blame the victims. Oh my God! How could I have missed it? The Mandalay Bay shooting was all Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival‘s fault! They made Stephen Paddock do it. Too bad all the concertgoers weren’t carrying handguns, shooting wildly in every direction in hopes of hitting something, maybe even Paddock. Because nothing would have said “responsible gun ownership” like turning Mandalay Bay into a free-fire zone.
