Leadership of the Culinary Union has gone thermonuclear on the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, filing a National Labor Relations Board complaint against owner Brookfield Asset Management. The latest broadside from the Culinary against 
Brookfield alleges that “the company has rules suppressing employees’ free speech, including prohibitions against saying anything to discredit the company, talking about personnel matters, saying negative things about the company on social media, engaging in ‘rebellious’ behavior, etc. Despite Hard Rock Las Vegas’ claim that it wants employees to be able to ‘express themselves’ they are prohibited from wearing union buttons.”
This follows a September 8 blast from the union, to the effect that “the company in anti-union communications to its workers promised to work on solving their workplace ‘challenges’ instead of them choosing to have a union, falsely accused the Culinary Union of stealing and selling employee contact information, and giving 
employees the impression that it is futile to engage in collective bargaining.” Brookfield is not the union’s only target. It turns out that the first mortgage on the property is actually held by Singapore-based sovereign-wealth fund GIC. “We do not think the good people of Singapore nor the headline and risk-averse stewards of the nation’s resources would be pleased by such activities,” warned Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline. There has been no overt signal that Brookfield is trying to peddle the hotel-casino but warfare with the Culinary may convince Brookfield that holding onto the HRH isn’t worth the grief that comes with it.
* It was only a matter of time before Penn & Teller had their own slot machine. Everi debuted a new, P&T-themed slot at The Rio (where else?), a game into which the illusionist duo are 
said to have had creative input. And frankly, if you had those two brains at your disposal, it would be foolish not to tap them. The resultant slot comes with eight bonus rounds, as well as “a vanishing rabbit” who will disappear with your money, depending on the hold percentage. Expect the game to be rolled out to Caesars Entertainment‘s Strip properties immediately.
Speaking of slots, GameCo is preparing a heavy rollout at Global Gaming Expo, showcasing five new games that include Steve Aoki’s Neon Dream and Terminator 2: Judgment Day™, as well as bartop adaptations of its existing game inventory. It’s also looking to catch a ride on the e-sports wave with Multiplayer Challenge Mode™, which it promises will be “bringing the arena phenomenon of esports directly to the casino floor in an easy to implement system for operators.” We’re such the GameCo booth (#5034) will generate foot traffic but are operators ready to gamble on skill-based slots yet, let alone incorporating e-sports into the casino floor — especially when the e-sports demographic is too young to gamble?
