The National Labor Relations Board is expected to quickly schedule an election in which Win Las Vegas dealers can decide if they support unions in collective bargaining with resort management.
The U.S. Transport Workers Union, which hopes to organize a win-dealer, has filed paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board for union authorization.
“The union has filed a petition with sufficient support to allow us to proceed,” said Steve Wamser, the NLRB’s deputy Las Vegas district attorney, on Monday. “We’ve scheduled a hearing but we’re not sure if there’s an issue that requires it. We plan to discuss it with both parties to come up with an election agreement.”
Union representatives said it took less than a week to collect signed union approval cards from an “overwhelming majority” of eligible dealers in Wynn Las Vegas, but did not say how many workers made up the majority. The casino employs nearly 700 dealers.
Transport Workers, a New York-based union affiliated with the AFL-CIO, represents 130,000 workers nationwide in mass transit, airlines, railroads, utilities, higher education and municipalities.
Las Vegas President Andrew Pascal Wynn expressed little concern Monday about dealers” pending union approval vote. He said the NLRB filing was “part of the event the company expected,” when “a small number” of real estate dealers protested a highly publicized change to how casinos collect and share tips earned by casino workers. The case has dragged on for more than eight months.
Wynn’s management added certain managers and casino supervisors to its list of people eligible to share tips pools of often lucrative casinos in September. Wynn dealers said they could earn $100,000 or more a year before tip pooling programs begin.
Wynn Las Vegas executives said they launched the policy to correct an imbalance in which dealers are paid more than their bosses. Critics have argued that Wynn Las Vegas should raise managers’ wages rather than expand its tip pool. Dealers say the change is costing them as much as $20,000 a year.
Pascal said dealers were upset by the pay cut. But Wynn’s dealers are paid more than any other resort in Las Vegas, he added.
“I think the underlying reasons behind this change have been proven,” Pascal said. “We have improved service levels, we have great candidates for open positions, and people are still very well rewarded for what they do.”
Pascal said dealers still “believe that the only way to overcome making less money” on the program is to organize
Pascal said Win Las Vegas is not anti-union. The resort has a long contract with Culinary Workers Local 226, which expires in 2015, and “has a long history of working constructively with Culinary.”
The dispute led dealers to file complaints with the state labor board, with a small sidewalk protest outside the casino and two dealers suing. Both complaints and lawsuits against the labor board were dismissed.
Congressional Bill 357, which could have ended the WinTip pooling agreement in the city of Carson on Friday, died on the Nevada Legislative Judiciary Committee.
“We were very disappointed with various disappointments along the way,” said Josephine Tang, who has been selling blackjacks and baccaras at Wynn since the resort opened in April 2005. “We’re hoping that the NLRB will be able to secure and protect our salaries and benefits by scheduling a vote and forming a union soon.”
Winn’s fellow dealer Kanie Kastrol said union membership would bring improvements.
“Our committee is literally made up of dealers from all backgrounds with hundreds of years of experience in dozens of casinos,” Castrol said. “Trust me, we know what we want as dealers, and we’re ready to work on that.”
Pascal said he knew his weekly tips would be reduced once the program started because there were more participants in the pool. However, he said it was the first time since September that tips per week were similar to the same month a year ago in tip pooling last month.
“This is a trend that we hope we can continue, but it just points to the benefits of the overall restructuring of the program,” Pascal said. A union representation vote by dealers at Wynn Las Vegas could reflect Atlantic City’s move.
Dealers at four of the New Jersey gaming community’s 11 casinos have petitioned in recent weeks for an election to join the unionized auto workers. Last week, dealers at Vallis said they would seek UAW’s representative. 스포츠토토
Two casinos held elections last month. Dealers at Caesars and Trump Plaza voted in favor of joining the UAW. Dealers at Trump Marina will vote for union representation on May 11.
“Atlantic cities are a different set of situations,” Pascal said. “I don’t think there is a comparison.” Even if WIN dealers vote to approve the union’s representative, it’s unclear if the contract can be reached
In 2001, the union of transport workers moved to organize dealers in 13 casinos, winning elections in Tropicana, Stratosphere and New Frontier but losing in other properties. The effort eventually ran out.