FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Media Contact:
Bethany Khan ▪ BKhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Workers at Green Valley Ranch Casino Resort Unionize
LAS VEGAS, NV – Workers at Green Valley Ranch, a luxury casino resort owned and operated by Station Casinos, voted to unionize on November 8 and 9. Green Valley Ranch is the fourth Station Casinos-operated property to unionize since 2015. Workers at a Station Casinos-managed tribal casino in California ratified a first union contract in October, 2015. Workers at two of its Las Vegas properties – Boulder Station and Palace Station – were unionized in September, 2016, and March, 2017, respectively.
During the two-day election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, 730 workers voted and 78% voted “YES” for the union. Approximately 900 Green Valley Ranch workers will be represented by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE. Station Casinos is the operating subsidiary of Red Rock Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: RRR).
“Over the course of organizing, I’ve picketed, protested, and even fasted for seven days. I’m happy to have been able to help organize my coworkers and I felt so proud to vote “YES” for the union!” said Michael Wagner, a bartender who has worked at Green Valley Ranch since it opened in December, 2001. “I look forward to joining together with other Station Casinos workers in negotiations with the company so we can have a fair union contract soon.”
“This latest victory by Station Casinos workers is a testament to the courage and resilience of working people,” said Geoconda Argüello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Union. “We welcome the new members to the Culinary Union, and applaud the Green Valley Ranch organizing committee for their hard work to get their co-workers to stand up and demand a better future for themselves and their families.”
“We voted ‘YES’ to join the Culinary Union because we deserve fair wages and good benefits,” said Gladis Sosa de Funes, a guest room attendant at Green Valley Ranch. “Everyone knows the Culinary Health Plan is the best health insurance in Las Vegas, and we want our families to have it.”
In 2010, workers at Station Casinos started a public organizing drive. A super majority of workers in Culinary and Bartenders’ bargaining unit (which includes most of the hotel and food and beverage workers in a casino hotel) signed a public petition to demand a fair process to exercise their right to choose whether to unionize.
Recent changes to NLRB rules created new opportunities for workers to choose whether to unionize through NLRB-supervised secret-ballot elections even with the continued prospect of management interference, intimidation, bullying, and litigation.
Green Valley Ranch, a AAA Four Diamond Award-winning property, is the first boutique luxury resort built off the Las Vegas Strip, according to the company. Green Valley Ranch has approximately 495 hotel rooms, 2,295 slots, and 48 gaming tables and is owned and owned and operated by Station Casinos, the third-largest private-sector employer in Southern Nevada with 10 casino hotels and 10 casino taverns in the region. Red Rock Resorts (NASDAQ: RRR) became the parent company of Station Casinos through an IPO last year. The company is controlled by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who own 10-to-1 super-voting Class B shares of Red Rock Resorts. In addition to Boulder Station, Palace Station, and Green Valley Ranch, the company’s other casino-hotels in Las Vegas include: Red Rock Resort, Palms Casino Resort, Santa Fe Station, Sunset Station, and Texas Station, Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho.
ABOUT THE CULINARY UNION:
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 the 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 82 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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