REPORT

Here we are, it is now 2006. Looking back on 2005, we had many victories, but 2006 starts with some major challenges for our union. Our International Union in the hotel sector has most of the contracts in the major cities expiring this year, with San Francisco working without a contract since 2004. Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Honolulu, Boston, and Toronto, just to name a few of the major cities, all have contracts that expire this year. At home, here in Las Vegas, our contracts expire in 2007. As most of you already know, it is time to get serious about being organized and get ready to fight to secure great contracts in 2007. We will have major fights ahead to keep our health insurance and pension plans.

Secretary-Treasurer Terry Greenwald presents back pay award checks to Matt Maze and Elton Marvin.

I’m sure most of you have heard by now that a number of major corporations are cutting back on pensions and trashing existing pension plans; we must not let that happen to us and we must keep our guaranteed 40-hour work week. One of the most important issues is the way employers are coming up with new job skills for all classifications, especially bartenders. It is extremely important that we negotiate language where bartenders will be paid by the company to train for any special job duties or skills that they require.
There are two major union employers in Las Vegas today, those being the MGM Mirage and Harrah’s Corporation. These two companies are planning major changes; with the MGM building City Center and Harrah’s purchasing the Imperial Palace, we expect major expansions with both companies.
Times are changing rapidly in Las Vegas; condos and boutique hotels are a new upcoming trend. MGM Grand will be opening their first condos this year which will be partially owned by MGM and partially by private owners. The condos will have restaurants and bars on site and we need to negotiate card check neutrality with them so they become union.
The Stardust announced its closing by the end of 2006 and more progress is in the making; unfortunately many long-term workers will be losing their jobs and seniority. In the near future, we expect other hotels in the Las Vegas area to announce their closing to remodel and open up major resorts.