Unprecedented action at UNITE HERE Local 226

Las Vegas, NV – AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is in Las Vegas today to pledge his support for Station Casino workers involved in the country’s largest private sector organizing drive.

Since the 2007 management-led buyout allowed thirteen insiders to take $660 million out of the company, workers at Station Casinos have not had a raise, have had the cost of their health insurance increased, and have seen the loss of thousands of jobs.

Michael Wagner, a bartender at Green Valley Ranch, explained by saying, “All workers in Las Vegas should have job security, good wages, and solid healthcare. I want Stations to respect me and my right to organize.”

Workers at Station Casinos publicly demanded to organize freely in February of 2010. Rather than agree to a fair process free of managerial interference to decide whether to have union representation, Station launched a vicious anti-union campaign including TV and print advertisements against the Culinary Union Local 226 of UNITE HERE. The company has fired and threatened workers. In recommended decisions, two National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judges found Station guilty of breaking federal labor law 88 times, which would make it the worst violator of labor law in Nevada gaming history. The company has appealed the decisions.

President Trumka will speak on these issues and make an announcement encouraging Stations Casino to stop their anti-union campaign and allow casino workers to organize freely.

Follow @workerstation and @ydc226 on Twitter . Also visit www.workerstation.org and https://www.facebook.com/workerstation for more information.

The Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, and Bartenders Union, Local 165, are both affiliates of UNITE HERE. The Culinary is the largest local labor union in the U.S. gaming industry. It represents approximately 60,000 casino and resort workers primarily on the Las Vegas Strip and in downtown Las Vegas.