Red Rock Casino Resort Ordered to Negotiate with Las Vegas Union

Posted on: July 22, 2021, 09:01h. 

Last updated on: July 22, 2021, 01:53h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Red Rock Casino Resort has been ordered by a federal judge to temporarily negotiate with a Las Vegas casino union while a legal complaint plays out.

Red Rock Resorts Station Casinos union
Culinary members say they have plenty to celebrate after a federal judge this week ruled Red Rock Casino Resort must negotiate with the union on an interim basis. Red Rock owner Station Casinos says the decision will only hurt employees. (Image: Culinary Workers Union Local 226)

US District Judge Gloria Navarro issued an order this week requiring Red Rock parent company Station Casinos to formally recognize the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165.?

Citing a “hallmark of violation,” Navarro’s ruling orders Station Casinos to tentatively abide by 15 conditions. They include ceasing from interrogating employees about their union activities, discouraging unionization efforts, and refraining from penalizing employees who are thought to be supportive of a union. Station Casinos must also begin contract talks with union officials.?

Red Rock Casino Resort, located about 10 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip in Summerlin, is Station’s flagship casino property. The resort has some 800 hotel rooms, and a casino floor measuring more than 118,000 square feet.?

Judge: Station Violated Labor Laws

Billionaires Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III, who control?Station Casinos, have?long opposed allowing unions to infiltrate their casino resorts. The company panned Navarro’s ruling in a statement.

We firmly and respectfully disagree with the result, which overturns the clear vote of the Red Rock team members in their rejection of the Culinary Union,” Station declared.

“The decision punishes Red Rock team members and the Red Rock property because Station Casinos treated its team members too well,” Station continued.

Navarro says that’s nonsense. The judge concluded that ahead of a December 2019 union vote among Red Rock employees, Station Casinos greatly increased benefits for workers in an effort to sway them from voting to unionize.

“Red Rock’s grant of benefits likely thwarted the union’s majority status, and was so outrageous that it undermined the fairness of future elections,” said Navarro’s order. “Red Rock’s offer of benefits was a hallmark violation that justifies the issuance of an interim bargaining order,” the judge concluded.

The interim order is to run as legal proceedings play out regarding a Red Rock complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Directors at the NLRB are reviewing whether Station Casinos interfered with unionization efforts at Red Rock.

The NLRB, an independent federal agency, has the power to remedy unfair labor practices, and assure that employees have the right to organize and determine whether to have a union as their bargaining representative without company intrusion.?

Union Celebrates

The Culinary and Bartenders unions represent approximately 1,350 Red Rock Resort employees. Union officials were quick to praise Navarro’s ruling.?

?We commend Red Rock casino workers for their courage and resilience in the face of the massive anti-union campaign that Station Casinos waged against their own employees, and we look forward to negotiating and winning a union contract to protect workers,” Geoconda Argüello-Kline, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union said.

Navarro’s interim union negotiating order is rare. Culinary told Casino.org that it’s the first time that the union has been granted a temporary bargaining order at a casino in its 86-year history. ?