Union Dispute Decision Against Station Casinos by Federal Panel
The NLRB has sided against Station Casinos in their ongoing spat with the Culinary Union, based in Las Vegas.
On Monday, the board's decision stated that Station Casinos' management must initiate negotiations with the hospitality workers union regarding three gaming properties: Red Rock Resort, Palace Station, and Boulder Station.
The ruling further alleges that the company engaged in inappropriate tactics to discourage union formation, with the NLRB asserting that Red Rock Resorts' Station Casinos were involved in "extensive coercive and unlawful conduct." according to their strategic plan, designed explicitly to hinder employees' ability to choose whether or not to be represented by the [Culinary] Union.
This ruling aligns with the opinion of an administrative law judge's decision in 2022.
Unwarranted Threats, Bribes
In response to this ruling, Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge stated that it "verifies what we have been saying for years — that Station Casinos violated the law and must bargain with the union due to its unlawful actions that manipulated the potential for a fair union election."
Pappageorge echoed the NLRB's stance on Station Casinos' inappropriate promises and threats to employees.
The federal government has determined that Station Casinos' Red Rock Casino committed severe labor law infractions, and senior executives are implicated in a disgraceful scheme to undermine union democracy," Pappageorge further explained. "Station Casinos must cease disregarding the law and show respect to its workers."
One employee, Henry Joyner, a former cook at Red Rock Casino, added in a statement, "I never felt like I was dealt with fairly or equally when I worked at Red Rock."
In 2019, Joyner donned his Union button and displayed it proudly every day. He noted, "There's a reason why workers at Red Rock chose to be represented by the Culinary Union." "I want a Union job where I am treated fairly and without discrimination," Joyner concluded.
Appeal Likely
However, Red Rock Resorts spokesman Michael Britt claimed that the 2019 worker vote, which rejected a union effort, "reflected the desires of the majority of Red Rock Team Members then and still does now," according to the Las Vegas Independent.
Britt added that the NLRB's decision "upheld the findings of its own NLRB hearing officer" and was not surprising, but the company plans to file an appeal.
In April, more than half of the approximately 600 unionized workers at Sunset Station Hotel and Casino apparently wished to renounce the Culinary Union as their labor representative.
The employees were in the process of signing a "decertification" petition, as per Station Casinos. Decertification petitions were previously signed by a majority of workers at Boulder Station and Palace Station in 2020.
The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 represent around 60K workers in Las Vegas and Reno. These groups comprise guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers.
The unions recently achieved five-year agreements for workers at multiple properties.
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