MEDIA ADVISORY
Monday, March 14, 2016
Media Contact:
Bethany Khan ▪ BKhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Labor Dispute Escalates at Palms Casino; One Thousand Expected to Picket the Resort Friday
What: One thousand are expected to picket in front of the Palms Casino Resort on Friday as part of an escalating labor dispute. Workers at the Palms are fighting for a fair process to choose whether to have a union and want the management to remain neutral about their recent unionizing efforts.
Who: Culinary Union members, workers from Trump Hotel Las Vegas/Station Casinos/Aliante Casino, local clergy and faith leaders, community allies, and candidate for Congressional District 4 Ruben Kihuen.
When: Friday, March 18, 2016 from 5-7pm.
The leader of the Culinary Union, Geoconda Arguello-Kline, and Palms workers will be available for interviews in English and Spanish. To schedule, please contact Bethany Khan at bkhan@culinaryunion226.org.
Where: Palms Casino Resort (4321 West Flamingo Road Las Vegas, Nevada).
Why:
In June, 2015, members of the Palms Organizing Committee delivered a fair process petition to Palms CEO Todd Greenberg asking for management to remain neutral and allow them to make their own decision about unionization. Greenberg refused.
It is the standard in Las Vegas that casinos, resorts, and hotels remain neutral and don’t intimidate workers against unionizing. On the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, the following properties near and around the Palms have respected their workers’ decision to organize: Stratosphere, SLS, Hilton Grand Vacations, Circus Circus, Encore, Wynn, Treasure Island, Mirage, Caesars Palace, Harrah’s, Linq, Flamingo, Cromwell, Bellagio, Bally’s Paris, Planet Hollywood, Vdara, Cosmopolitan, Aria, Signature, Monte Carlos, MGM Grand, New York-New York, Excalibur, Luxor, Tropicana, Delano, and Mandalay Bay.
In September 2015, local faith leaders joined Palms workers in support as they delivered a second petition signed by a majority of their coworkers asking for the resort for agree to a fair process which would allow workers to choose whether to unionize without management interference, intimidation, harassment, bullying, and litigation. PHOTOS from the petition delivery here: (http://on.fb.me/1P5TRbo).
Since 2011, the Palms has been owned by two private equity firms: TPG Capital with $67 billion in assets and Leonard Green & Partners with $15 billion in assets.
###
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, members of the media, 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.
www.CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226