MEDIA ADVISORY
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Media Contact:
Bethany Khan ▪ BKhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Donald Trump, Negotiate with your Employees!
Hundreds to rally at Trump Hotel Las Vegas
What: Hundreds are expected to rally at the hotel co-owned by Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump.
Trump International Hotel Las Vegas workers want their boss to start contract negotiations after they won a unionization vote and the federal government denied review of the hotel’s final appeal. Trump Las Vegas is legally required to bargain with the Culinary and Bartenders Unions.
Who: International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers, Trump Las Vegas employees, Culinary Union members, workers from Station Casinos/Aliante/Palms, local clergy and faith leaders, and community allies.
When: Friday, August 26, 2016 at 9am.
Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union, Geoconda Arguello-Kline, and Trump Las Vegas workers will be available for interviews in English and Spanish. To schedule, please contact Bethany Khan at bkhan@culinaryunion226.org.
Where: Rally will be at Trump Las Vegas (2000 Fashion Show Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89109).
Why:
Trump Hotel Las Vegas workers voted in an NLRB election on December 4 and 5, 2015 at their hotel. Over 500 employees of the hotel are in the union’s bargaining unit and were eligible to vote. This victory for workers at the luxury non-gaming hotel co-owned by Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump and casino owner Phillip Ruffin came nine months after workers at the Trump International Hotel Toronto voted to join UNITE HERE, and one week after the Trump Toronto workers ratified their first contract.
Donald Trump’s company has driven an aggressive anti-union campaign since workers began organizing at his property in 2014. The NLRB’s General Counsel has issued four separate unfair labor practice complaints against Trump Hotel Las Vegas since then for alleged offenses including suspensions of employees for union activities, threats and interrogations against union supporters, and maintenance of illegal confidentiality rules.
While Trump Las Vegas has settled some of these allegations by posting notices to workers that it will respect their rights, just this July an NLRB administrative law judge issued a recommended decision finding that the hotel committed six unfair labor practices. The judge found that Trump management illegally threatened and interrogated employees and the hotel’s top housekeeping manager even told a worker she was a “traitor” for wanting a union. Trump Las Vegas has signaled an appeal, but it is highly likely that the National Labor Relations Board will adopt the recommended decision over Trump’s objections. Meanwhile, on August 17, 2016, the NLRB’s General Counsel issued a new complaint alleging that Trump Las Vegas is illegally refusing to comply with the NLRB’s order upholding the union certification.
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent over 57,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 270,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest immigrant organization with over 57,000 members - a diverse membership that is approximately 55% women and 56% Latino. Members -who work as guest room attendants, bartenders, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, and kitchen workers- come from 167 countries and speak over 40 different languages. The Culinary Union has been fighting for fair wages, job security, and good health benefits for working men and women in Nevada for over 80 years.
The Culinary Union is encouraging Nevada locals, political candidates, and tourists to avoid staying at/or patronizing hotels under an active labor dispute such as Station Casinos, Palms Casino Resort, and the Trump Hotel Las Vegas. To see the full list properties with an active labor dispute, go to:VegasTravelAlert.org.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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