MEDIA ADVISORY: Culinary Union to picket Station Casinos HQ

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MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: 

Thursday, January 19, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088 

Culinary Union to picket Station Casinos HQ

BROLL available here

Las Vegas, NV -  Culinary Union to picket Station Casinos corporate headquarters on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 10am and 5pm as workers continue to push for a first-time union contract and demand an end to unfair labor practices.

WHO:

*Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for Culinary Union

*Diana Valles, President of the Culinary Union 

*Culinary Union members

*Station Casinos workers

*Nevada AFL-CIO labor partners

WHAT: Culinary Union to picket Station Casinos corporate headquarters

WHEN: Thursday, January 19, 2023 from 10am-11am and 5pm-6pm

WHERE: Station Casinos corporate headquarters (1505 S Pavilion Center Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89135)

WHY: Station Casinos workers continue to push for a first-time union contract, and demand an end to unfair labor practices.

In negotiations, which are active and on-going at properties where Station Casinos has recognized its bargaining obligations, the Culinary Union and worker leader committee have put the following proposals on the table (among many other items):

*Ensure workers, whom Station Casinos has discarded during the COVID-19 closures and subsequent demolishment of Texas, Fiesta Henderson, and Fiesta Rancho, have hiring priority for vacant positions at remaining open properties. The company has not agreed.

*Implement enhanced benefits to union and non-union workers alike - Station Casinos has currently promised enhanced benefits to only non-union employees. The company has not agreed.

*Priority hiring and severance benefits for workers if any more Station Casinos properties are to be closed or sold. The company has not agreed.

*Include Culinary Academy of Las Vegas training opportunities for Station Casinos workers so they can move up in their careers. The company has not agreed.

*Protect Station Casinos workers with the standard union job security package that already covers 60,000 Culinary Union hospitality workers in Nevada. The company has not agreed.

*Come to an agreement on a first-time union contract which includes all of the above and many more protections for Station Casinos workers. The company has not agreed.

Workers also demand an end to Station Casinos withdrawal of recognition from the Culinary Union at Boulder and Palace Station.  In an unfair labor practice complaint against Station Casinos, the federal government seeks a bargaining order at those properties, as well as a bargaining order at Santa Fe Station.

Workers at 6 Station Casinos’ Las Vegas properties are fighting for a union contract: 

Boulder Station (September 2016)*, Palace Station (October 2016)*, Green Valley Ranch (November 2017)*, Sunset Station (June 2019)*, Red Rock Resort (December 2019)*, and Santa Fe (April 2021)**.  

*NLRB union vote dates. **Pending NLRB complaint seeking an additional bargaining 10(j) order. 

In July 2021, Red Rock Casino became union when a federal court issued a rare and extraordinary 10(j) bargaining order. In April 2022, a federal administrative law judge followed suit by issuing a proposed ruling ordering Station Casinos to negotiate a union contract for workers at Red Rock Casino, a ruling which is being reviewed by the National Labor Relations Board. In August 2022, the NLRB’s General Counsel commenced litigation of an unfair labor practice complaint alleging that Station Casinos’ 2020 withdrawal of recognition from the Culinary Union at Palace Station and Boulder Station was illegal. Culinary Union continues to demand that Station Casinos honor its bargaining obligations at those properties. The NLRB’s General Counsel also seeks an order from the NLRB requiring Station Casinos to bargain at Santa Fe Station as a remedy for the alleged unfair labor practices alleged in the complaint. Culinary Union asked the Nevada Gaming Control Board in March 2022 to investigate Station Casinos’ suitability in connection with its properties’ privileged Nevada gaming licenses for failing to adhering to federal labor law. The Culinary Union is also urging the Gaming Control Board to move the Nevada Gaming Commission to take disciplinary action against Station Casinos, up to and including revocation of privileged gaming licenses held by affiliates.

Station Casinos, (the operating subsidiary of Red Rock Resorts (NASDAQ: RRR), is controlled by billionaires Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. Members of the Fertitta family have been major supporters of Donald Trump and other Republicans, including to unsuccessful political candidates and campaigns: Team McConnell ($292,000 in September 2022), Adam Laxalt for Senate ($46,400 in 2021), April Becker for Congress ($23,200 in 2021), and the Take Back the House 2022 PAC ($303,600 in September 2022). Station Casinos parent company, Red Rock Resorts Inc, which caters to Las Vegas locals in one of the most diverse cities in the U.S., is the only publicly-traded Nevada gaming company with an all-white and all-male board of directors.

ABOUT CULINARY UNION:

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America. 

The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.  

The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.  

The Culinary Union has a diverse membership which is 55% women and 45% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latinx, 18% white, 15% Asian, 12% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples. 

Culinary Union members work as: Guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting and winning for working families in Nevada for 88 years.

CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226 

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