Fiesta Henderson Workers Narrowly Approve Nevada Union Affiliation

Posted on: September 14, 2019, 10:32h. 

Last updated on: September 15, 2019, 09:58h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Fiesta Henderson Hotel & Casino is the latest Nevada Station Casinos-owned property where workers voted to affiliate with a union. By a tight margin, some 57 percent of the 295 Fiesta employees taking part in Friday’s tally approved the affiliation.

Workers celebrate Friday after some 57 percent of 295 employees at Fiesta Henderson Hotel & Casino approved affiliating with a union. (Image: KLAS)

With the vote, more than 300 Fiesta Henderson employees will be represented by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165. They are Nevada affiliates of the national Unite Here union, and include hotel, kitchen, bar, and restaurant workers.

The union will next push for Station Casinos representatives to sit down at the bargaining table to eventually reach an agreement with workers at the Henderson, Nevada property. It is a goal that the union has for other company-owned properties, too.

We call on Station Casinos to immediately negotiate and settle a fair contract for the workers at Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Sunset Station, Palms, Green Valley Ranch, Palace Station, and Boulder Station,” Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, said in a statement provided Friday to Casino.org.

Among the issues of concern to workers are fair wages and improved health insurance. They also want better job security and pension plans.

The union says Fiesta Henderson marks the seventh Station Casinos venue in Nevada where workers voted to unionize since 2016. It was in June that workers at Fiesta Rancho Hotel & Casino voted to unionize. A total of 147 workers voted then and 85 percent of them backed the union.

Also, in June, hundreds of workers at Sunset Station Hotel & Casino approved affiliating with the Unite Here-affiliated unions. Some 437 Sunset Station workers voted, with 83 percent of them backing the union.

In May, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a decision that Station Casinos Palms Casino Resort refused to bargain with or recognize the unions. The NLRB also concluded the company “engaged in unfair labor practices.”

Station Casinos Files Legal Challenges

Over two years, Station Casinos has legally challenged worker elections through lengthy processes. The company has submitted an appeal of the NLRB ruling, too. It seeks to set aside May’s decision and order.

The case will be heard by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Like other appeals filed by the company, the process can be a lengthy one.

The union claims Station Casinos management is guilty of “interference, intimidation, bullying, and litigation.” Some Democratic presidential candidates have backed the union’s efforts, such as Bernie Sanders, Julian Castro, and Pete Buttigieg, according to the Associated Press.

Both Sides Need to Bargain

In June, Ruben Garcia, co-director of the Workplace Law Program at UNLV’s law school, told Casino.org both the Culinary Workers Union and Station Casinos management need to abide by relevant labor laws. Both sides need to negotiate and bargain in “good faith,” he added.

Station Casinos is a subsidiary of Red Rock Resorts. The company is controlled by brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta.

The culinary worker and bartender unions represent some 60,000 employees in the Las Vegas and Reno region. They work at many properties located on the Las Vegas Strip and/or in downtown Las Vegas. Nationally, Unite Here represents some 300,000 workers in such sectors as gambling, hotels, and food services.

Their job categories include cooks, hotel room attendants, cocktail servers, food servers, porters, bellmen, bartenders, laundry workers, and kitchen workers, the union said.