VIVA LAS VEGAS NEWSLETTER
+++SPECIAL ALERT EDITION+++

A POSSIBLE LAS VEGAS STRIKE BY THE CULINARY UNION
by billhere

There is a possible strike by the Culinary Union
against certain Las Vegas Hotels.

Due to misinformation or no information coming
to you, this Special Alert Edition of the
Viva Las Newsletter is being sent to you.

This Newsletter is divided into three sections;
CURRENT FACTS, BACKGROUND FACTS and concludes
with my OPINIONS.

CURRENT FACTS
===============
Culinary Workers Union 226, Las Vegas (Union) has a contract, with
certain Las Vegas Hotels, which will expire at midnight, May 31st,
2002.

Last week the Union mailed out a two-page flyer to 50,000 travel
agents, Wall Street analysts, investors, suppliers and media.

Next Thursday, May 16th, the Union will hold a mass rally at the
Thomas & Mack Center to authorize the Union negotiating team to call a
strike, when and if the Union negotiation team deems necessary. This
vote will be held at 6 p.m. Pacific Time or 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
According to Glen Arnodo, Political Director of the Union, the results
of the vote should be released to the media between 10 p.m. and 11
p.m. Thursday night.

Several workers were injured last Friday May 3rd when members of the
Union clashed with security guards in the employee dining room at
Circus Circus.

BACKGROUND FACTS
===================
The Union has an internet site at:
http://www.culinaryunion226.org

The Thomas & Mack Center has a seating capacity for rallies of 19,522.

A typical housekeeper has a quota of 15 to 17 rooms to clean per day.

The 33 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos whose contract with the Union expires
on May 31 st are:
Bally's, Barbary Coast, Bellagio, Binion's Horseshoe, Caesars Palace,
Castaways, Circus Circus, El Cortez, Excalibur, Fitzgeralds, Flamingo,
Four Queens, Four Seasons, Fremont, Golden Gate, Golden Nugget,
Harrah's, Lady Luck, Las Vegas Club, Las Vegas Hilton, Luxor, Main
Street Station, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York,
Paris Las Vegas, Riviera, Sahara, Stardust, Stratosphere, Treasure
Island and Tropicana.

The 3 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos who have contracts with the Union but
the expiry date of the contracts are later than May 31st are:
MGM Grand Hotel (expires November,2003), New Frontier (expires
May,2005) and Rio (expires in 2006).

The 30 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos who have NO CONTRACT with the
Union are:
Aladdin, Arizona Charlie's East, Arizona Charlie's West, Boardwalk,
Boulder Station, Bourbon Street, California, Casino Royale,
Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Gold Coast, Hard Rock, Imperial
Palace, JW Marriott Las Vegas, Key Largo, Orleans, Palace Station,
Palms, Plaza, Sam's Town, San Remo, Santa Fe Station, Silverton,
Suncoast, Sunset Station, Terrible's, Texas Station, Venetian,
Westward Ho and Wild Wild West.

The Union represents 53,534 gaming industry workers.

The Union represents maids, cooks, bellhops and food servers.

Major issues for the Union are maintaining current level of medical
benefits and stopping workload increases in the housekeeping
department.

The last strike by the Union was in 1984 which lasted for 75 days and
there was violence.

OPINIONS
==========
Nobody can predict the future. The following are my opinions, based on
following many labor conflicts over many years.

In good conscience, I must now issue an alert to all readers. Prudent
travelers should now book hotel rooms in the 30 non-union hotels
listed above or the three Union hotels whose contracts will not expire
on May 31st, as listed above. There are many good choices.

Consequently, I must now advise you NOT to book any hotel rooms in the
33 Hotels listed above, whose union contract expires May 31st. Your
fun trip to Las Vegas will be marred by the inconvenience of not
having regular maids, cooks, bellhops and food servers in your Las
Vegas Hotel IF there is a strike. There will also be rotating
picketing in front of the Hotel on strike IF there is a strike.

I am not taking sides in this possible conflict.
Both the Union and management have behaved badly. As my revered late
father would say "there are three sides to this story; the Union's
side, the management's side and the truth."

The Union should never have sent out the 50,000 flyers. Their members'
livelihood comes from a healthy Las Vegas tourist industry. You don't
bite the hand that feeds you.

Management is being penny wise and pound foolish. Certainly, the
Union's demand of paid health insurance for all Union employees and
their families is reasonable.

You will be hearing much more on this story. It is clear that the
Union is preparing a major national media event at next Thursday's
rally of close to 20,000 union members. Many inflammatory speeches,
placard waving union members and slogan shouting demonstrations are
to be expected. That's a natural show for the national media.

It is to be noted that the Union is asking the members to authorize
the Union negotiating team to call a strike, WHEN AND IF the Union
negotiation team deems necessary. The history of these conflicts
indicates that the strike will NOT commence on June 1st but the
Union negotiators will use their mandate as a threat.

If I was betting on this story, I would wager that the strike will
occur over the July 4th Independence Day long weekend. But, as I said,
nobody can predict the future. There is no need to cancel your future
plans to visit Vegas. Be prudent. If you are coming to Las Vegas in
the next few months, book your room in a Hotel that is not strike
threatened. Why do you need the possible hassle?
==================================
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Wow - I'm going to be really upset if this strike takes place. I'm heading to Vegas on May 31. I'm wondering if I should cancel my trip???

Hi Mike,
If you follow Billhere's advice about which hotels to stay in, you should be fine......... Of course, perhaps we'll know more about a possible strike on Thursday night. The rumble around town is that it seems likely.

I am booked at the Orleans (which looks good) and flight reservations on National (which has emerged from bankruptcy - so that looks good) I am concerned about our Pullman Grill reservations and Lee's lunch reservations at the Palm and am converned about Kenny Rogers res. at the Hilton. Tater: you are in an excellent position to keep us informed on all of this, so would you please. One thing for sure, I am NOT cancelling by trip to Vegas! Wendell

Tater - Thanks for the advice. I think I'll wait a week until I decide. I'm booked into NYNY with everything comped and I really don't want to switch. We'll see. Mike

I thought Billhere's newsletter on this subject probably covered it better then any other thing I've read on the subject so far.
I'm not worried about my May trip that goes into June. I agree they won't strike at midnight when the contract runs out. The 4th of July weekend seems like the best date for the union to use as a wedge to get management to move on with a contract. This is the Big holiday for Summer travel to LV, and striking then would hold the most impact.
I'm at the Orleans for the first 2 days of my trip, then I was to move to anther hotel that may strike. I'm now rethinking my plans like the rest of you are. BUT, I'M GOING TO LAS VEGAS, STRIKE OR NO STRIKE! With recent events like 9/11 we relize just how short life really is. I'm not going to let a union contract stop me from a vacation.
Wendell, I would have to wonder if the Palm is a union shop? My guess is no. But if it is, we'll just meet infront of the place and eat somewhere else.....maybe the Orleans! LOL

Lee, sounds good to me - I'm with you - no union is going to foul up my trip. Wendell

On Thursday May, 16th, the union members voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, when the need arrises.
There has been one clash at Circus Circus, (break room) where people where hurt. And a more peaceful disturbance now at Treasure Island (break room).

Has Vegas gone "Strike Happy" - This one, and now CAT? At a time when things are getting back to norm from 9/11 - The big guys are still laying off people - unemployment is up in Texas (6.1) Lockheed here in Ft. Worth was hiring more as a result of the F-22 contract and they have received thousands upon thousands of applications. Excuse my thinking, but when jobs are getting more scarce - it definately does not seem like "strike time". Wendell

Wendell - I agree with you. This is really disappointing. I hope the VP machines don't decide to go on strike when I get there. Mike

There is no doubt a strike hurts the Las vegas tourist trade, at a time when Las vegas needs to get back on it's feet again. Money lost due to 9/11 will never be fully recovered. I also question if LV and the travel industry will ever get back to where it was pre 9/11. While peoples jobs and livelyhood should not be overlooked, it just seems to be a case of very bad timing on the unions part to call strikes. A sucker punch, hit them when they are down sort of thing. But then unions have always been opertunistic.

I have trouble feeling sorry for the maids/domestics claiming they are overworked. In some cases I'm sure it's true, but I know they are not working when they are making calls on my telephone to outside lines! This happens almost every trip! I've gotten very used to dealing with the problem at the front desk.
I read somewhere they have about 17 rooms per person to clean. If they spend more then 20 min. in my room, it's only because they where watching TV or using my phone! The amount of Check-outs seem to be the biggest complaint. Those are the days then they have large numbers of rooms to turn around and give to a new renter.
I'll get off my high horse now! If there are any maids that read this BB, I'm sure that will flush them out! LOL I'd love to hear first hand reports on this subject, and not union reteric.
M2C

There's some good news for our Memorial Day travelers ....according to the story in the LVRJ, Park Place and the Tropicana reached a tentative contract agreement early this morning, and Harrah's is rumored to be close. The downside of the news is that MGM Mirage and Mandalay have NOT yet reached agreement, and they were last reported as offering less than the $3.25 increase in the 5 year agreement with PPE, etc. The complete story can be found from our link on the home page.

Thanks for the update Daisy. I'm glad that some progess has been made and am crossing my fingers that MGM Mirage will make an agreement by the time I get there next week.

This just showed up today from billhere. I'm so relieved!

THE END OF A POSSIBLE STRIKE BY THE CULINARY UNION
by billhere, Publisher.

The negotiating committees of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165
and Harrah's Entertainment, Mandalay Resort Group, MGM Mirage, Park Place
Properties and Tropicana,
HAVE COME TO A FIVE YEAR AGREEMENT.
An increase of wages of $3.23 per hour is agreed to over the five year agreement and housekeepers are promised better working conditions.

Final ratification by Union members is a formality
since workers negotiating committees for each property have unanimously approved the tentative agreements.

The only casinos, AT THIS TIME, that have NOT come to an agreement are:
Barbary Coast, Binion's, Castaways, El Cortez, Fitzgeralds, Four Queens, Four Seasons, Fremont, Golden Gate, Lady Luck, Las Vegas Club,
Main Street Station, Riviera, Sahara, Stardust and Stratosphere.

Agreement with the above casinos is also a formality.

Ahhh, union peace in Las Vegas hotel/casinos for 5 years; what a pleasure!

In another Union squabble in Las Vegas, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1637 is on strike against the Citizens Area Public Transit
System (CAT) since last Monday. The strike is causing minimum disruption since replacement drivers are being used on the main lines.

On Friday, a judge issued a temporary restraining order for strikers not to harass, threaten or assault Citizens Area Transit employees or
buses.

As usual, there are three sides to this story;
Managements side, the Unions side and the truth.

It looks like they will get this thing settled. Almost all the people I talked to downtown think it will go away now that the big boys signed.

Also for what it's worth department.
My host claims to be prepaird to bartend if the need arrises! Is she a great host or what? LOL