Caesars Palace dealers to vote on union representation today - Business

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Dec. 22, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Caesars Palace dealers to vote on union representation today

By ARNOLD M. KNIGHTLY
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Dealers at Caesars Palace will decide today if they will become the second group of local dealers at high-end casinos to unionize.

Today's union vote comes about seven months after dealers at Wynn Las Vegas overwhelmingly authorized being represented by the Transport Workers Union of America in response to Wynn Resorts' decision to share the dealers' tips with the casino's supervisors.

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"Remember the Wynn!" is posted throughout an online bulletin board being used by dealers to rally support for the effort to have Las Vegas Dealers Local 721, an affiliate of the Transport Workers Union, represent about 560 dealers at Caesars Palace.

"I think it's time in Las Vegas where the dealers should have representation," Joseph Carbon, lead organizer for the union in Las Vegas, said Friday. "Certainly, they feel that way now.

"The atmosphere is different now, so they feel they need some job security and protection. So hopefully we can give them that."

Gary Selesner, president of Caesars Palace, said the practice of sharing tips has never been considered at the property and the property's management doesn't support the practice.

Carbon, however, said the dealers aren't just concerned about the possibility of having some of their tips diverted to supervisors. Workers at Caesars also want to have a better channel to express their concerns about health benefits, wages, job security and seniority.

Gary Selesner, president of Caesars Palace, said, “Dealing at Caesars Palace is one of the most highly coveted jobs in the casino industry. Our dealers continue to have the highest toke rates in Las Vegas, and this will only improve with our expansion plans.”

Caesars announced a $1 billion expansion in the summer that will add a hotel tower, suites, restaurants and other high-end amenities to the property.

Selesner added that management does not believe the Transport Workers Union is the right fit for the dealers or the casino industry in general.

"We believe it is in the best interest of the dealers at Caesars Palace to work with management to continue making dealing at Caesars Palace the best job in the casino industry," he said.

Today's vote will be held in two sessions that will be overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. The votes will be tallied after the polls close at 11:30 p.m.

The results will be announced Sunday, although a final vote tally could take as many as 10 days to certify if there are any objections to the vote.

The vote comes seven months after dealers at Wynn Las Vegas approved the union's representation by a vote of 444-149.

In September 2006, casino developer Steve Wynn announced that certain managers and casino supervisors would be added to the list of employees who qualify to share in the casino's often-times lucrative tip pool.

The decision led dealers to seek union representation. The Transport Workers is still negotiating a union contract with Wynn Resorts.

This is not the first time the Transport Workers Union has tried to organize dealers in Las Vegas.

In 2001, votes were held at 11 properties, with dealers at the Tropicana, Stratosphere and the New Frontier approving union representation.

However, the only contract that materialized was for the 105 dealers at the New Frontier. The union was unable to negotiate contracts at the other two casinos and was decertified in 2002.

Dealers at the Monte Carlo, Treasure Island, New York-New York, Excalibur, MGM Grand, Bally's, Riviera and Las Vegas Hilton voted down representation in 2001.

This time around, the union seems to be moving more slowly, property by property.

Carbon said dealers at several other properties in Las Vegas have been signing registration cards asking for union votes, although he declined to identify which property might vote next.

"That effort (in 2001) was more to take it on and see what happens," said Carbon, who was not involved in the organizing efforts six years ago. "Last time we went after a number of casinos at one time, and I believe it takes away from what you really need to do when you spread yourself along four, five or six casinos at one time."

He also doesn't think the future of organizing dealers in Las Vegas hinges on today's vote.

Although the vote is the first for dealers at a Harrah's Entertainment property in Las Vegas, unions have been succeeding at the company's properties elsewhere.

Dealers at the Caesars Palace and Bally's in Atlantic City voted this year for representation by United Auto Workers, which represents approximately 6,000 casino workers in Atlantic City, Detroit and Newport, R.I.

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or (702) 477-3893.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. Report abuse d wrote on December 22, 2007 09:53 PM: It seems that when many of these cry babies applied for the job of dealing they were aware of all the pitfalls that were prevalent in the casino, but did this deter them, no they with only their greed to guide them accepted the conditions and now it is their greed that is once again speaking. ex-dealer,ex superviser 30yrs in the business, what a shame that the business is coming to this. Report abuse Jeff wrote on December 22, 2007 06:58 PM: The union will destroy the table games market in Las Vegas just like it has destroyed the auto industry and other manufacturing industries. The cost to operate table games will skyrocket, leading to fewer gaming tables, less job opportunities and more layoffs. These dealers are looking at the short term and not considering the much bigger, longer term ramifications of their actions. I was a dealer when I first broke into the business 13 years ago and was against the union then....I'm still in the business and still against the union now. With a 20 min break every 40 to 60 minutes, a separate dealer's break room, and decent toke sharing the dealers have been spoiled rotten for too many years....they are going to destroy the Golden Goose for short term greed. Report abuse douglas wrote on December 22, 2007 03:10 PM: the issue remains that if some dealer objects to the second hand smoke, the suits sweating the game, the petty write ups, the fleas or stiffs, they can walk. a business owner is their because the building isn't on wheels. little people with thin skins may be too delicate to deal or play, either one. do you think that doyle is offended by comments from any player, the rail birds, the tv commentators, or a sullen attitude from a dealer ? guess i've logged enough hours playing 21 since the early 60's to enjoy the sweat, the dummy up and deal pitchers, the shuffle ups, the deck changes, the table closings, the rare 86's, the sin alerts, the hassles at the cage... none of these bother me. they are part of the game. if i was so touchy-feeley as apparently are some dealers, i'd have quit a few decades ago. again, the dealer saps fail to understand that the player, drunk, stiff, jerk, loud mouthed, all of the above, carry the ball. can't take the action, the verbal abuse, get a job selling eclairs in a donut shop. Report abuse David Huntington wrote on December 22, 2007 02:05 PM: as to dealing to fleas, that's part of the job. no different than most any job where one must deal with the public. a retail business owner mebbe knows that better than any employee who can walk to another job in midshift. You are dead wrong Douglas! No company has the right to allow nor any customer have the right to insult an employee...PERIOD! Such actions create a hostile work environment, illegal under federal labor laws. If players made the comments to me on the street that some do while I am on the job, they wouldn't be living right now. Report abuse douglas wrote on December 22, 2007 01:26 PM: jaded* guess my ancestors like many hereon, entered the u.s. within the laws at the time. as to "minimum wages", surely they took those as offered. as to my jobs, i had my share of "entry level" spots. some overseas as a college kid/hitchhiker were legal and paid way less than a dollar an hour. coolest one was pick and shovel in the winter. since there was no water on site, the company sold half liter bottles of beer. as to getting a job at a casino licensee, guess i'd consider it. i've sure done worse. the starting wage at any job never much concerned me. i looked at those spots as footholds, the first rung on a ladder up. like my ancestors, and nearer, the parents, during the depression they were fortunate to get 2 and 3 jobs. more than once i've had 2 or more, plus night school. as to taking jobs away from "native americans", that's amusing. usta play some 21 at tribal casinos in the very early days they were granted "compacts". they were so short of employees that tribes often would import native american workers from other tribes just to fill the table games. as to dealing to fleas, that's part of the job. no different than most any job where one must deal with the public. a retail business owner mebbe knows that better than any employee who can walk to another job in midshift. as to dealing jobs at "minimum wage", that's apparently worthwhile under the present toke system. an open call for dealers at most any strip joint would make a line of applicants from lv blvd south to pahrump. those dealers who whine about minimum wages should get a raise... to $10 or $20 an hour with zero tokes. Report abuse David Huntington wrote on December 22, 2007 12:28 PM: IT'S TIME FOR VIDEO BLACKJACK!!! Been there, done that. Players have already voted against video table games. Video blackjack failed a few years back and now rapid roulette is losing after its intitial lustre. Players want someone to insult and whine to when they lose. You can't insult a machine. On the topic of dealer benefit packages and job security. You are right, the players have long since been the main source of income for the dealers. Most dealers would like to be paid for their worth to the company, by the company. When casinos pay their dealers close to minimum wage and yet expect them to accept public humiliation and slanderous insult from the players, somethings more needs to be done to improve working conditions for the frontline employees. Most local players have no class, and are inconsiderate fleas with no concept of civility. Report abuse jaded wrote on December 22, 2007 12:14 PM: hey douglas, sure your ancestors came to this country with all kinds of invitations and proper papers? certainly they never took a productive job away from some other native-born americans who might've needed a job? nobody's stopping you from going to apply for those minimum-wage jobs in the casinos if you are desperate enough. so go find an employment center on the strip and do something useful to help feed your kids a decent christmas meal. Report abuse STEVE WYNN wrote on December 22, 2007 10:19 AM: IT'S TIME FOR VIDEO BLACKJACK!!! PATHETIC/GREEDY DEALERS CAN BE REPLACED WITH A VIDEO SCREEN SO QUICKLY AND EASILY....HIT ME! Report abuse douglas wrote on December 22, 2007 09:15 AM: as to illegal infiltrators working in licensed casino hotels, i've never found a position statement from the nevada resort association or the nevada gaming control board. only thing i read was some off hnad statement that the casino-hotel industry "relied on illegals". were any of these "news" media crusaders, the "i-team" and their clones, honorable, they'd explore in depth, the practice of permitting any illegal infiltrators employed by licensees, or their sublet contractors. remember the hullabaloo when walmart subcontractors that cleaned the stores were found to have employed "illegals" ? walmart was attacked in the media. what about our casino industry, are they exempt from the same microscope ? Report abuse Robert A. wrote on December 22, 2007 09:00 AM: I hope they will do a better job than the culinary that lets them bring illegals in on weekends and when there is no union rep available and hire $8 an horu full time illegals and extra board union workers. Read All Comments