The running battle between Station Casinos and the Las Vegas local of the Culinary Union has shifted to three more Station properties.
At the Fiesta Henderson, whose workers have been waiting a year for contract negotiations with Station management, a hearing officer with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has recommended the full board reject Station’s challenge to the September 2019 election that certified the Culinary as the workers’ representative.
“I recommend that the employer’s objections be overruled in their entirety,” NLRB Hearing Officer Alvaro Medina stated in his September 17 report on the Fiesta challenge. “The employer has failed to meet the board’s standard and therefore has not provided evidence that raises a reasonable doubt as to the fairness and validity of the election.”
Fiesta is one of eight Station casinos in the Las Vegas Valley to seek representation by the Culinary over the last three years. None have a contract despite repeated promises from Station to acknowledge their employees’ right to choose union representation in NLRB-supervised elections. Instead, the company continues to challenge the elections before the NLRB and through various court maneuverings and refuses to negotiate in defiance of previous rulings by the board.
“Station Casinos continues to disrespect their workers by wasting time with litigation and union-busting efforts,” said Geoconda Argüello-Kline, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary, whose locals represent some 60,000 casino and hospitality workers in Las Vegas and Reno.
Yet, the company’s delaying tactics are being rewarded in at least two cases where a majority of workers, tired of waiting for contracts, are reported to have signed petitions to leave the union.
At both Boulder Station, the first to vote in the union back in September 2016, and Palace Station, which voted union in March 2017, Station said it has stopped recognizing the unions based on the petitions.
The Culinary is challenging the validity of Station’s actions to unilaterally decertify it and continues to fight for contract negotiations at both properties.
The other Station properties in and around Las Vegas where union members are waiting for contracts are: Red Rock Resort, Fiesta Rancho, Sunset Station, Palms and Green Valley Ranch.
