Comments (23) | Add a comment
Howard Stutz
Bickering out of hand for Station, Culinary
Tools
More Columns
More Blogs
Caesars shareholder Paulson touts company's stock at New York forum
Newspaper reports that Steve Wynn buys $70 million New York City penthouse
Uruguay extends Caesars Entertainment gaming license through 2036
IGT's marketing executive Staci Alonso to receive award at a July gaming conference
MGM Resorts names senior resident executive for the company's China holdings
If this were a classroom, Station Casinos and the Culinary union would be sent to the principal's office.
These children have gotten way too disruptive.
Station Casinos launched its latest salvo against Culinary Local 226 last week, saying in a new round of print and television ads that the union, in an obsessive effort to organize a large chunk of the company's 13,000 employees, is killing jobs and hurting Las Vegas.
Almost a year ago, Stations Casinos began a multimillion dollar advertising campaign to rebuild its image and win back loyal customers after nearly two years of budget cutbacks and a bankruptcy court administered reorganization.
The company emerged intact with a new ownership structure and a more manageable balance sheet minus some $4 billion of debt.
Station Casinos set out on Super Bowl weekend with a simple message, "We Love Locals," delivered by hundreds of its employees with a whimsical flair set to the Beatles' "All You Need is Love."
It worked.
With a cashier tossing money around, cocktail servers and dealers promising fun times, a cook guaranteeing tasty omelets, and a security officer playfully showing off his handcuffs, Station Casinos returned to its roots.
However, the company saw a need to respond to a relentless stream of attacks by the Culinary union.
In September, an administrative law judge ruled the National Labor Relations Board could hear 83 claims of unfair labor practices against the Station Casinos (out of an original 400 allegations).
The Culinary has since used the ruling as a sledgehammer.
Union representatives have tried to scare away business from Station Casinos properties by picketing the company's vendors, asking entertainers not to perform at the company's venues and challenging the business practices of Deutsche Bank AG, which owns 25 percent of the casino operator.
Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is majority owned by Station Casinos founders Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta, is the union's primary punching bag.
Last month, the Las Vegas Sun reported that Culinary members harassed Zappos.com CEO and perceived downtown savior Tony Hsieh while he was dining at a Fremont Street restaurant. The reason? Zappos does business with Station Casinos-owned Green Valley Ranch Resort, which is near his company's current Henderson headquarters.
If that tactic was part of an orchestrated campaign, it was idiotic.
Apparently, Station Casinos had enough. Company executives view the Culinary's continued efforts as corporate harassment and character assassination.
Last fall, Station Casinos altered its message to highlight its casinos as great places to work. Hispanic employees talked about the company helping with citizenship efforts, home ownership and building a career, without being told to do so by the Culinary.
Last week, a Station Casinos employee charged the union with "trying to kill jobs, hurting Las Vegas, even in this economy."
More attack ads are on the way, but both sides should stop the name calling.
Most customers are oblivious to what all the fuss is about. Last year, a Wall Street analyst familiar with the locals gaming market suggested maybe two-thirds of Station Casinos' customers had no idea the company was operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Those who did -- based on the phone calls and emails I received just after the March 2010 filing -- were concerned about just one thing: Would they lose their accumulated Boarding Pass customer loyalty points in the reorganization? (The answer was no).
Station Casinos needs to return to the messaging points and business model that wins back customers.
Meanwhile, the Culinary needs to forget this white whale and concentrate attention elsewhere. Las Vegas is growing tired of the union's staged protests for television cameras.
If the Culinary couldn't organize Station Casinos employees in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings, how does it expect to win them over now? The company hired another 1,000 workers last year.
Culinary leaders should focus their efforts on renewing contracts with Strip resorts that cover roughly 50,000 members. The contracts expire in June and it's clear the upcoming negotiation with hotel companies could become contentious.
It's time for the children to stop fighting. Or at least be placed in timeout.
Howard Stutz's Inside Gaming column appears Sundays. He can be reached at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. He blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/stutz. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Sign In to Comment
Please sign in or register to comment. For more information visit the Registration FAQ.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
How ironic that the union is being billed as the 'Mob.' Ironic that the so called 'good guys' have a history with the 'Mob.' Does noone do their homework before commenting? Who is the lesser of the evils here?
First off, if a Stations employee is working toward citizenship, they are most likely here legally. Illegal invaders don't want citizenship or to assimilate. Secondly, the culinary (lowercase intentional) knowingly registers and send out illegals. Every last member of their management needs to be hauled in for racketeering, fraud, and violation of federal law. But where would Dirty Harry and B.O. get their support if that happened? The culinary is the new mob, except the old mob was less criminal.
I hope that you realize that every single, and I mean EVERY SINGLE employee in those commercials is a member of Stations Management. ( never any maids, or servers, or cooks or porters or lifeguards, or cocktail waitresses). Talking about how much they hate the Union. Im not surprised that the R-J is supporting the Stations. After all, you do make millions from their advertaising. Way to stay "Fair and Balanced", R-J.
Maybe STATIONS should REALLY focus on locals - as they say they do. I was a regular for many years - but since they've gone through this recent bankruptcy the machines just suck my money with no play at all. Many I know also have this experience. Even their incentives to get me in the casino have drastically dwindled. Boo hoo Stations.
I AM NOW 100% DISABLED AS RESULT OF GREEN VALLEY RANCH AND THEY WILL NOT ADMIT LIABILITY. WHERE IS THE JUSTICE? THEY SAY "THEY LOVE LOCALS" PROVE IT! OWN UP TO GROSS NEGLIGENCE IT IS A CLASS C FELONY. 3 YEARS I HAVE LIVED WITH PAIN AND SUFFERING,HAD TO RELEARN HOW TO WALK AND CAN NOT SIT OR STAND FOR ANY MORE THAN 5 MINUTES[WITH A CANE] AT A TIME. I WAS ONCE PRIOR TO THIS ACCIDENT A FULLY FUNCTIONAL WOMAN
The article should be titled stations casinos finally fights back. Up until recent they have taken the high road.
If I was the UFC I would make sure not another fight was fought in a union facility. Heck I would even consider not fighting another fight in Vegas just to spite the culinary union. How much would that hurt Vegas if they took their fights elsewhere? The UFC's ppv take would stay the same, their ticket sales would probably stay the same, so who loses? Vegas and the union that is who loses. Maybe the union members should tell their leaders to stop with their antics.
The Culinary union management / thugs should be arrested for extortion.
rmolnar: "Union Thug" is considered a two-word title, as in, "Please Mr. Union Thug, do not set fire to my place of business if I refuse to sign your card". However, "Cultinary" is a one-word term correctly used to identify those who use stalking techniques to harass and intimidate Station Casinos Team Members. There's your grammar lesson for the day; now go use it...:)
Is unionthug supposed to be one or two words?
The LVRJ has become a pathetic slave to Station Casinos. Stations buys major advertisement and the LVRJ ensures nothing negative of their sponsor gets printed. Stations management was fired by Alliante. Why do you think that was? Would you trust a company that bilks billions from creditors?