FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Media Contact:
Bethany Khan ▪ BKhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Workers at Boulder Station Vote to Unionize Through NLRB Secret-Ballot Election
LAS VEGAS, NV – Over Labor Day weekend, workers at Boulder Station Casino & Hotel have voted by a landslide of 67% to be represented by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165 through an NLRB secret-ballot election. Over 570 Boulder Station workers will be represented by the Unions.
“It is very simple: we voted for the union because we want to have a union at Boulder Station,” said Rodrigo Solano, a cook at the casino, which opened in 1994. “After all these years of fighting to make our jobs better, it is time for management to listen to us: we want to have fair wages and good health benefits like tens of thousands of other casino workers in Las Vegas.”
The union filed for an election on August 15, and over 530 employees in the union’s bargaining unit voted on September 2 and 3 on-site at the Boulder Station casino-hotel. The decision by Boulder Station workers to unionize comes less than a year after workers at a Station Casinos-managed tribal casino in Northern California ratified their first union contract. Boulder Station is the first of Station Casinos’ properties in Nevada to unionize with the Culinary and Bartenders Unions.
“We applaud the tremendous courage and determination of the Boulder Station workers, who have resoundingly rejected the company’s anti-union campaign to discourage and scare them over the years, especially over the last two weeks,” said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “Workers at Boulder Station have made their choice to unionize, and we look forward to contract negotiations starting as soon possible.”
The Culinary Union continues to call on Station Casinos to agree to a fair process at its other Las Vegas properties so that workers can decide whether to unionize free from management interference, intimidation, bullying, and litigation.
“We know about the Culinary and Bartenders Union and the union standard that workers have fought to have for over 80 years, and we made our decision to unionize based on those facts,” said Jeri Allert, a cocktail server at Boulder Station. “I look forward to negotiating a good union contract that protects my coworkers and our families.”
“Our company has enjoyed great success because of the hard work we put in every day to provide great service and hospitality,” said Maria Portillo, a food runner at Boulder Station. “We deserve to have a union contract that gives us job security, fair wages, good healthcare, and a pension so that we can have the opportunity to provide for our families through our hard work.”
At the large casino-hotels owned and operated by Station Casinos in Las Vegas, including soon-to-be-acquired Palms, workers have been demanding publicly a fair process to exercise their right to choose whether to unionize. Responding with a vicious anti-union campaign, Station Casinos has broken federal labor law eighty-eight times and is the worst labor law violator in the history of Nevada gaming. Recent changes to NLRB rules have created new opportunities for workers to choose whether to unionize through secret-ballot elections despite the continued prospect of management interference, intimidation, bullying, and litigation.
Boulder Station is a subsidiary of Station Casinos LLC, which is partially owned by Red Rock Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRR). Deutsche Bank owns approximately 16% of the Las Vegas gaming company.
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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