Station Casinos Gave Workers Free Steaks, Possibly to Sway Union Election

Posted on: June 20, 2024, 10:54h. 

Last updated on: June 20, 2024, 11:05h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Just a couple of days before Station Casinos workers voted on whether to affiliate with the Culinary Union, management tried to get employees to oppose the union with the lure of tasty food.

The company served the culinary workers more than 500 complimentary steaks in 2019. Each was branded “Vote No!”

The giveaway was in response to workers previously saying the food they had been served in a free buffet wasn’t tasty. Food had become an employee concern.

By giving out the steaks, Station Casinos was hinting meals in the future would improve if the employees rejected the union during the 2019 vote. It turned out, the workers did oppose the union by a 627-534 vote.

Company Must Negotiate

Earlier this week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) further directed Station Casinos and parent company Red Rock Resorts to recognize and negotiate with the Culinary Union.

Management had taken part in “egregious and pervasive unlawful conduct” leading up to the union vote, the federal panel said.

The NLRB also claimed Station Casinos’ actions “stemmed from a carefully crafted corporate strategy intentionally designed at every step to interfere with employees’ free choice whether or not to select the [Culinary] Union as their collective-bargaining representative,” according to the federal ruling.

In response to the ruling, Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said it “affirms what we have been saying for years — that Station Casinos violated the law and the company must bargain with the union because of its unlawful actions that corrupted the prospect for a free and fair union election.”

Vote Was Fair

Red Rock Resorts spokesman Michael Britt said the 2019 workers’ vote “was a fair outcome that reflected the wishes of a majority of the Red Rock Team Members then and reflects it now,” according to the Las Vegas Independent.

The NLRB’s decision “upheld the findings of its own NLRB hearing officer,” and wasn’t unexpected, Britt added. The company is likely to file an appeal.

The controversy involves three gaming properties, including Red Rock Resort, Palace Station, and Boulder Station.

Decertification By Workers

More than half of the approximately 600 unionized workers at Sunset Station Hotel and Casino reportedly said in April they wanted to drop the Culinary Union as their labor representative.

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, represent some 60K workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, and laundry and kitchen workers.