“[sic] semper tyrannis”; Sahara Sam’s rummage sale

One quickly becomes inured to mobile billboards in Las Vegas, lurching about the streets. (The billboards, not me.) But the one I saw this morning en route to work was an eye-grabber: “No mas en Stations [sic]” it read. The fine print attributed it to the Culinary Union and Bartenders Union, both of whom clearly need to brush up on their Station Casinos nomenclature.

This roving salvo follows a most unusual letter from Station’s longtime HR director, Valerie Murzl, to various and sundry Station vendors. Dated May 23, it is described as a rejoinder to a Culinary Union letter to those same parties. Murzl lays out the difference between Station’s position on unionization (by secret ballot) and that of the Culinary, which prefers card checks. (I disagree, but that’s beside the point.) “Consequently,” Murzl writes, “the Union declared war on Station Casinos. The Union’s campaign of lies, falsely accusing Station Casinos of the commission of unfair labor practices or mistreatment of Latino Team Members is waged only to pressure Station to agree to recognize the Union with affording [employees] the right to vote during a secret ballot election.”

Murzl (right) goes on to make the debatable contention that Station is “the employer of choice in the Las Vegas valley.” (Station Casinos … Steve Wynn … Station Casinos … Steve Wynn? Such a difficult choice.) She also reminds readers that her employer (used to be) the sole “gaming company ever included among the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For,” a distinction it held “for four consecutive years.” She ends by blasting the Culinary for “ill-motivated, false claims … a desperate tactic to achieve the Union’s sinister purpose.”

(Seriously, Murzl needs to shake her unfortunate addiction to proper nouns. Her letter makes it sound like “Latino Team Member” is an official title at Station. As in, “Hello, I’m Pilar, Latino Team Member.” But don’t sell Murzl short, literally: She’s one of the few Las Vegans to have made a profit on real estate during the Great Recession.)

Murzl’s typewriter appears to have been flung into the breach after Station simply abdicated its own defense in a long-running National Labor Relations Board case in early May. Accused of anti-union activities,  Station had said last June it would “vigorously defend” itself but evidently did nothing of the sort, having failed to get the case dismissed on the grounds that the Culinary was not remotely forthcoming during the discovery process. According to the Culinary, Station also rehired two employees (Green Valley Ranch attendant Teresa Debellonia and Adelina Nuñez both received a most “george” deal) allegedly given the chop for attempting to unionize their places of employment.

The original 127 complaints, not counting some the Culinary withdrew, eventually swelled to 197, as the legal battle focused on racial discrimination — a touchy subject in an area that’s roughly 25% Hispanic. (Just ask Sharron Angle.) It’s particularly nerve-rasping for Station, which employs an above-average number of Hispanic/Latino managerial talent. With Station emerging from Chapter 11 and making a big hiring push (literally hundreds of job postings), the Culinary’s warfare has escalated.

Roving billboards are nothing compared to the mass sit-in at Palace Station that resulted in 200 arrests last Thursday, out of an estimated crowd of 1,500. The Culinary, meanwhile, has smaller fish to fry, duking it out with Tamares Group — or rather, Tamares’ sham “management company,” Play LV — over the sacking of change-booth cashiers at the lowly Western, where a penny saved is … a penny saved. With the NLRB yet to rule in Station’s case, the latter’s opting-out of the hearing, combined with its war of words with the Culinary, presages the relocation of this conflict to a different legal field of battle.

Mark your calendar. June 16 is the day appointed for Sahara Sam Nazarian‘s everything-must-go sale at the former Sahara. Yes, you too can own a camel statue. Would look pretty nice in your living room, wouldn’t it? What a great conversation-starter it would make. (I jest because the alternative is to weep.) Whichever way you look at it, this marks the end for the Strip dowager. She’ll either be gutted beyond recognition or demolished outright. My guess is Smilin’ Sammy Naz blows her up, then tries to flip the land. Whatever happens, there’s going to be a big, black void at the top of the Strip for a long time to come.