Dedicated
to

Esperanza
Aquino
Aug 9, 1921
Sept 24,1983

Welcome to Vegas Vinnie

Howdy pardners!

A POSSIBLE LAS VEGAS STRIKE BY THE CULINARY UNION
by billhere

There is a possible strike by the Culinary Union
against certain Las Vegas Hotels.

Due to misinformation or no information coming 
to you, this Special Alert Edition of the 
Viva Las Newsletter is being sent to you.

This Newsletter is divided into three sections; 
CURRENT FACTS, BACKGROUND FACTS and concludes 
with my OPINIONS.

CURRENT FACTS
===============
Culinary Workers Union 226, Las Vegas (Union) has a contract, with certain Las Vegas Hotels, which will expire
 at midnight, May 31st, 2002.

Last week the Union mailed out a two-page flyer to 50,000 travel agents, Wall Street analysts, investors, suppliers and media. 

Next Thursday, May 16th, the Union will hold a mass rally at the Thomas & Mack Center to authorize the Union negotiating team to call a strike, when and if the Union negotiation team deems necessary. This vote will be held at 6 p.m. Pacific Time or 9 p.m. Eastern Time. According to Glen Arnodo, Political Director of the Union, the results of the vote should be released to the media between 10 p.m. and 11
p.m. Thursday night.

Several workers were injured last Friday May 3rd when members of the Union clashed with security guards in the employee dining room at Circus Circus. 

BACKGROUND FACTS
===================
The Union has an internet site at:
http://www.culinaryunion226.org

The Thomas & Mack Center has a seating capacity for rallies of 19,522. A typical housekeeper has a quota of 15 to 17 rooms to clean per day. The 33 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos whose contract with the Union expires on May 31 st are:
Bally's, Barbary Coast, Bellagio, Binion's Horseshoe, Caesars Palace, Castaways, Circus Circus, El Cortez, Excalibur, Fitzgeralds, Flamingo, Four Queens, Four Seasons, Fremont, Golden Gate, Golden Nugget, Harrah's, Lady Luck, Las Vegas Club, Las Vegas Hilton, Luxor, Main  Street Station, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Paris Las Vegas, Riviera, Sahara, Stardust,  Stratosphere, Treasure Island and Tropicana.

The 3 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos who have contracts with the Union but the expiry date of the contracts are later than May 31st are: MGM Grand Hotel (expires November,2003), New Frontier (expires May,2005) and Rio (expires in 2006).

The 30 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos who have NO CONTRACT with the Union are: Aladdin, Arizona Charlie's East, Arizona Charlie's West, Boardwalk, Boulder Station, Bourbon Street, California, Casino Royale, Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Gold Coast, Hard Rock, Imperial Palace, JW Marriott Las Vegas, Key Largo, Orleans, Palace Station, Palms, Plaza, Sam's Town, San Remo, Santa Fe Station, Silverton, Suncoast, Sunset Station, Terrible's, Texas Station, Venetian, Westward Ho and Wild Wild West.

The Union represents 53,534 gaming industry workers.

The Union represents maids, cooks, bellhops and food servers. Major issues for the Union are maintaining current level of medical benefits and stopping workload increases in the housekeeping department.

The last strike by the Union was in 1984 which lasted for 75 days and there was violence.

OPINIONS
==========
Nobody can predict the future. The following are my opinions, based on following many labor conflicts over many years.

In good conscience, I must now issue an alert to all readers. Prudent travelers should now book hotel rooms in the 30 non-union hotels listed above or the three Union hotels whose contracts will not expire on May 31st, as listed above. There are many good choices.

Consequently, I must now advise you NOT to book any hotel rooms in the 33 Hotels listed above, whose union contract expires May 31st. Your fun trip to Las Vegas will be marred by the inconvenience of not having regular maids, cooks, bellhops and food servers in your Las Vegas Hotel IF there is a strike. There will also be rotating picketing in front of the Hotel on strike IF there is a strike. 

I am not taking sides in this possible conflict. Both the Union and management have behaved badly. As my revered late
father would say "there are three sides to this story; the Union's side, the management's side and the truth."

The Union should never have sent out the 50,000 flyers. Their members' livelihood comes from a healthy Las Vegas tourist industry. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Management is being penny wise and pound foolish. Certainly, the Union's demand of paid health insurance for all Union employees and their families is reasonable.

You will be hearing much more on this story. It is clear that the Union is preparing a major national media event at next Thursday's rally of close to 20,000 union members. Many inflammatory speeches, placard waving union members and slogan shouting demonstrations are to be expected. That's a natural show for the national media.

It is to be noted that the Union is asking the members to authorize the Union negotiating team to call a strike, WHEN AND IF the Union negotiation team deems necessary. The history of these conflicts indicates that the strike will NOT commence on June 1st but the Union negotiators will use their mandate as a threat.

If I was betting on this story, I would wager that the strike will occur over the July 4th Independence Day long weekend. But, as I said,  nobody can predict the future. There is no need to cancel your future plans to visit Vegas. Be prudent. If you are coming to Las Vegas in the next few months, book your room in a Hotel that is not strike threatened. Why do you need the possible hassle?

 

Til then, good luck to you all and watch out for those sticky buttons..

Meanwhile, if you're Vegas bound, I'll see you downtown.

GO HIT A ROYAL FLUSH.