FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2014
Media contact:
bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ @BethanyKhan ▪ (702) 387-7088
Major Labor Dispute Continues to Escalate in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, NV- On Thursday, October 9, 2014, clergy leaders and union casino workers from the Strip and Downtown will join Station Casinos workers in a march through Summerlin to Red Rock Casino Resort to demand that Station Casinos stop treating their employees like second-class workers. The event will start at 5pm at the Palo Verde High School and will include live performances along the march route and at the rally on Charleston Boulevard.
“Station Casinos says that they love locals.” said William Fountain, a houseman at Red Rock Resort, a Station Casinos property. “We are locals. Where is the love for their employees who are fighting for a fair process?”
Station Casinos is the worst labor law violator in the history of the Nevada gaming industry. A majority of Station workers -in classifications represented by the Culinary and Bartenders Unions- have signed a petition calling for a fair process to decide whether to unionize free from management interference, intimidation, bullying, and litigation.
Station Casinos was found to have broken labor law and violated its employees’ rights 88 times by two administrative law judges of the National Labor Relations Board. In September 2012, the NLRB denied the company’s appeal of these rulings.
“The majority of Strip and Downtown casinos have respected their workers right to a fair process,” said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union. “Why does Station Casinos treat its workers differently? It’s time for Station Casinos to respect their workers’ right to choose whether to unionize without management intimidation or harassment.”
“How Station Casinos is treating their workers is bad for our community,” said Barron Diaz, a porter at the Aria Resort & Casino Las Vegas. “I will not spend my money at Station Casinos until they respect their employees.”
Station Casinos is the fourth largest private-sector employer in Las Vegas. It has nine large hotel-casinos located in nearly every neighborhood in Las Vegas. There is a major labor dispute at: Red Rock Resort, Green Valley Ranch, Boulder Station, Santa Fe Station, Sunset Station, Palace Station, Texas Station, Fiesta Rancho, and Fiesta Henderson.
Red Rock Casino Resort lies in the heart of the Howard Hughes Corporation’s Summerlin Master Planned Community, which is poised for substantial commercial and residential growth. The casino resort is the flagship property and headquarter location for Station Casinos and thousands of union and Station Casinos workers have rallied and picketed at the property as a result of the high-profile and contentious labor dispute.
The Culinary Union has created an online resource about the on-going labor dispute at these Station properties: www.VegasTravelAlert.org/Stations. The public and event and conference planners are urged to contact the union to discuss labor-peaceful alternatives to utilizing these properties.
Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent over 55,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. UNITE HERE represents 270,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
www.CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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