FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Media Contact:
Bethany Khan ▪ BKhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Workers at the Palms Casino Deliver Petition to Demand Job Security
Las Vegas, Nevada -- Hundreds of employees at the Palms Casino, including those subcontracted out to Sodexo, have signed a petition to demand that they get to keep their jobs without loss of seniority or benefits when Station Casinos, a subsidiary of Red Rock Resorts, Inc., (NASQAD: RRR), takes over the property. The petition was delivered to Palms management on July 18.
More than two months after it announced its purchase, Station Casinos has not provided a written and binding commitment to employees at the Palms (including those who work for Sodexo in the buffet, coffee shop, main kitchen and bakery) that they will get to keep their jobs without having to reapply and without loss of seniority or benefits when it takes over.
“It makes me worried that Station Casinos fired workers and made them reapply for their jobs when they bought casinos in the past,” said Jose Luis Cuevas, who has been a porter at the Palms for eight years. “I don’t want to be left behind without a job when our casino is sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Current owners TPG Capital and Leonard Green Partners have not provided any reassurances to workers about their jobs as the private-equity firms ready to cash out of their Las Vegas investment.
When the sale of the Palms was announced in May, the Culinary Union had issued a call for worker retention. On July 13, workers attended a Gaming Control Board meeting to urge Nevada gaming regulators to consider the potential harm to workers and the local community if Station Casinos does retain all those who work at the Palms, including those employed by Sodexo.
Workers will also deliver their petition to Station Casinos, the Nevada Gaming Commission, and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. The petition was signed by a majority of workers at the Palms in the Culinary, Bartenders, and Teamsters unions’ bargaining unit.
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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