FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Media Contact:
Bethany Khan ▪ BKhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Federal government denies review of Trump Hotel Las Vegas’ final appeal
Culinary & Bartenders Union sends letter requesting negotiating dates
LAS VEGAS, NV – Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an order denying review of Trump International Hotel Las Vegas’s final appeal. This comes one week after the Culinary Union announced that the Trump Hotel Las Vegas agreed to settle a case and pay two workers $11,200 in lost wages to avoid going to trial.
Trump Hotel Las Vegas is legally required to bargain with Culinary & Bartenders Unions.
“We are pleased with the NLRB ruling, once again reaffirming that the union election at the Trump Hotel Las Vegas was fair and is certified,” said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “We look forward to starting contract negotiations so that workers can have fair wages, job security, and good health benefits.”
From the NLRB Order Denying Review signed by NLRB Chairman, Mark Pearce, and Members, Kent Hirozawa and Lauren McFerran dated July 28, 2016:
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“The National Labor Relations Board, by a three-member panel, has carefully considered the Employer’s request for review of the Regional Director’s Decision and Certification of Representative. The request for review is denied as it raises no substantial issue warranting review.”
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“Mr. Trump says that he is a great negotiator and deal maker,” said Carmen LLahrull, a guest room attendant at the Trump Hotel Las Vegas and registered voter. “My coworkers and I are eagerly waiting for him to start negotiating a contract with us so that we can finally have peace at work.”
The Culinary and Bartenders Union were certified on March 21, 2016 by the director of the NLRB’s regional office as the legal collective bargaining representative of more than 500 workers at the hotel after a government run election. This certification meant that workers at the Trump were officially unionized, so the Culinary and Bartenders Union called for contract negotiations to begin immediately. However, Trump Hotel Las Vegas has refused to recognize the workers’ democratic vote, and has unsuccessfully sought through a practice of expansive litigation to have the election results overturned.
Trump Hotel Las Vegas workers voted in an NLRB election on December 4 and 5, 2015 at their hotel. Over 500 employees of the hotel are in the union’s bargaining unit and were eligible to vote. This victory for workers at the luxury non-gaming hotel co-owned by Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump and casino owner Phillip Ruffin, came nine months after workers at the Trump International Hotel Toronto voted to join UNITE HERE, and one week after the Trump Toronto workers ratified their first contract.
Donald Trump’s company has driven an aggressive anti-union campaign since workers began organizing at his property in 2014. The NLRB has issued four separate unfair labor practice complaints against Trump Hotel Las Vegas since then, alleging conduct ranging from firing and threatening to fire union supporters, suspending employees, interrogating and intimidating employees - including by a manager pushing a union activist, and maintaining illegal rules that prohibited employees from communicating with each other and the public. The company has since rescinded illegal rules in a settlement.
Trump Hotel Las Vegas has settled many of the allegations: Most recently, the NLRB’s General Counsel issued a complaint on March 2, 2016 which alleged the company fired a union supporter and denied a transfer to a full-time job to another, while promising more job opportunities to workers if they abandoned their support for the Union. Trump’s company agreed to settle the case and paid two workers $11,200 in lost wages to avoid going to trial (which was set to start on June 14, 2016 before an Administrative Law Judge of the NLRB). Meanwhile, the union has filed new charges since the election victory which are under investigation by the NLRB’s General Counsel’s office.
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent over 57,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 270,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest immigrant organization with over 57,000 members - a diverse membership that is approximately 55% women and 56% Latino. Members -who work as guest room attendants, bartenders, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, and kitchen workers- come from 167 countries and speak over 40 different languages. The Culinary Union has been fighting for fair wages, job security, and good health benefits for working men and women in Nevada for over 80 years.
The Culinary Union is encouraging Nevada locals, political candidates, and tourists to avoid staying at/or patronizing hotels under an active labor dispute such as Station Casinos, Palms Casino Resort, and the Trump Hotel Las Vegas. To see the full list properties with an active labor dispute, go to: VegasTravelAlert.org.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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