‘What’s the endgame?’ No resolution projected as decades-long feud between Culinary and Station Casinos continues
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The Station Casinos is a talking point for politicians. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Culinary Workers Local 226 in November 2019. She was there to talk about Station's treatment of its workers. Joe Biden visited them a month later. The union did not endorse the presidential candidates. It did endorse a collective bargaining agreement for its members. The dispute started in 1993. In 2008, the MGM Grand Las Vegas opened. There is still a long-standing labor dispute between Station and Red Rock Resorts. They are trying to resolve it.
Station Casinos and the Culinary Union are involved in a long-running dispute. The NLRB rejected union decertification efforts at Palace Station and Boulder Station in April. In August, a judge ordered the company's CEO and vice chairman to answer questions about allegations that Station Casino tried to “undercut labor organizing efforts” The company is appealing the order. Red Rock opposed the passage of SB386, which guarantees the rights of gaming and tourism industry workers laid-off during the pandemic. Last year, after the state’s gaming industry reopened following a 78-day closure due to the Pandemic, Redrock kept four properties shuttered.
The Station Casinos-Culinary dispute has dragged on for more than 20 years. The law supports collective bargaining. It's ironic that it took more that 20 to get a contract. The union has shown staying power. There's no timetable for the dispute. A company is not legally obligated to agree to a deal. They can be charged with refusing to bargain. If they do, they could be fined. But the union's remedy is to file another charge with NLRB. Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, says the NLRA can't force a agreement.
The Culinary Union has been involved in a long-running dispute with Station Casinos. The union has targeted Station's business partners, vendors, entertainers and convention planners with information campaigns warning of the pending labor dispute. Station went through a bankruptcy reorganization in 2011. It went public two years later as Red Rock Resorts. The Fertitta brothers control more than 40 percent of Station. They are included on the Forbes Billionaires List. Their company went to be called Redrock Resort. In August, more 100 managers protested in front of Union's offices demanding it drop its NLRB challenge to reverse a union representation vote at Palace Station and Boulder Station, where employees rejected representation.
Station Casinos and Culinary and Bartenders union have been at odds for decades. Station Casino bought the Santa Fe Station in 2001 and refused to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement covering more than 700 employees. The company said the workforce had to re-apply for their jobs. In 2007, StationCasinos went private and expanded in Southern Nevada. Wall Street has given Red Rock Resorts high marks based on a resurging Las Vegas locals casino market.
The dispute between Red Rock Resorts and the Culinary Union is largely ignored. The union is upset about the company's offer of above-market employee benefits. The dispute has become personal and there is mutual disdain on both sides. There is no resolution projected as the decades-long feud between Culinaire and Station Casinos continues.
The focus is Station Casinos. The current contracts expire in 2023. Red Rock Resorts is the largest locals gaming operator. Boyd Gaming operates 28 casinos in 10 states. It has contracts with the Culinary at two downtown Las Vegas casinos – Fremont and Main Street Station. It also has affiliated unions at IP Biloxi and Sam’s Town Tunica in Mississippi and Blue Chip in Indiana.
