From the Viva Las Vegas Newsletter:

http://www.culinaryunion226.org

The Thomas & Mack Center has a seating capacity for rallies of 19,522.

A typical housekeeper has a quota of 15 to 17 rooms to clean per day.

The 33 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos whose contract with the Union expires
on May 31 st are:
Bally's, Barbary Coast, Bellagio, Binion's Horseshoe, Caesars Palace,
Castaways, Circus Circus, El Cortez, Excalibur, Fitzgeralds, Flamingo,
Four Queens, Four Seasons, Fremont, Golden Gate, Golden Nugget,
Harrah's, Lady Luck, Las Vegas Club, Las Vegas Hilton, Luxor, Main
Street Station, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Monte Carlo, New York-New York,
Paris Las Vegas, Riviera, Sahara, Stardust, Stratosphere, Treasure
Island and Tropicana.

The 3 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos who have contracts with the Union but
the expiry date of the contracts are later than May 31st are:
MGM Grand Hotel (expires November,2003), New Frontier (expires
May,2005) and Rio (expires in 2006).

The 30 Las Vegas Hotels/Casinos who have NO CONTRACT with the
Union are:
Aladdin, Arizona Charlie's East, Arizona Charlie's West, Boardwalk,
Boulder Station, Bourbon Street, California, Casino Royale,
Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Gold Coast, Hard Rock, Imperial
Palace, JW Marriott Las Vegas, Key Largo, Orleans, Palace Station,
Palms, Plaza, Sam's Town, San Remo, Santa Fe Station, Silverton,
Suncoast, Sunset Station, Terrible's, Texas Station, Venetian,
Westward Ho and Wild Wild West.

The Union represents 53,534 gaming industry workers.

The Union represents maids, cooks, bellhops and food servers.

Major issues for the Union are maintaining current level of medical
benefits and stopping workload increases in the housekeeping
department.

The last strike by the Union was in 1984 which lasted for 75 days and
there was violence.

OPINIONS
==========
Nobody can predict the future. The following are my opinions, based on
following many labor conflicts over many years.

In good conscience, I must now issue an alert to all readers. Prudent
travelers should now book hotel rooms in the 30 non-union hotels
listed above or the three Union hotels whose contracts will not expire
on May 31st, as listed above. There are many good choices.

Consequently, I must now advise you NOT to book any hotel rooms in the
33 Hotels listed above, whose union contract expires May 31st. Your
fun trip to Las Vegas will be marred by the inconvenience of not
having regular maids, cooks, bellhops and food servers in your Las
Vegas Hotel IF there is a strike. There will also be rotating
picketing in front of the Hotel on strike IF there is a strike.

I am not taking sides in this possible conflict.
Both the Union and management have behaved badly. As my revered late
father would say "there are three sides to this story; the Union's
side, the management's side and the truth."

The Union should never have sent out the 50,000 flyers. Their members'
livelihood comes from a healthy Las Vegas tourist industry. You don't
bite the hand that feeds you.

Management is being penny wise and pound foolish. Certainly, the
Union's demand of paid health insurance for all Union employees and
their families is reasonable.

You will be hearing much more on this story. It is clear that the
Union is preparing a major national media event at next Thursday's
rally of close to 20,000 union members. Many inflammatory speeches,
placard waving union members and slogan shouting demonstrations are
to be expected. That's a natural show for the national media.

It is to be noted that the Union is asking the members to authorize
the Union negotiating team to call a strike, WHEN AND IF the Union
negotiation team deems necessary. The history of these conflicts
indicates that the strike will NOT commence on June 1st but the
Union negotiators will use their mandate as a threat.

If I was betting on this story, I would wager that the strike will
occur over the July 4th Independence Day long weekend. But, as I said,
nobody can predict the future. There is no need to cancel your future
plans to visit Vegas. Be prudent. If you are coming to Las Vegas in
the next few months, book your room in a Hotel that is not strike
threatened. Why do you need the possible hassle?
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