We are just two months away from the opening of City Center. The newest resort from MGM Mirage comes as a big boost to our industry. Thousands of jobs will be created adding a big push to get our economy going again here in Las Vegas. This news certainly comes at a good time for many of our members who have been affected by the economy over the last couple of years.

As we move into October, the card check campaign kicks into full speed for this new resort. If you’re not familiar with what a card check is, here is a quick overview. In our 2007 contracts we bargained for and won card check neutrality for City Center. This agreement means that MGM Mirage will remain neutral and allow their employees to decide if City Center will be a union property. All the employees have to do to make City Center union is sign a card. Once a majority of the workers have signed cards Aria and Vdara will become union properties.

This will require thousands of cards to be signed and these cards don’t just sign themselves. There will be a team of organizers from Bartenders Local 165 and Culinary Local 226 working every day over the

next seven weeks to make sure this majority happens. They will be assisted by dozens of shop stewards from all over Las Vegas who are donating their time to secure the future for all of our members. These leaders will volunteer 12 hour days every week to spend time getting this job done.

MGM has given us space inside their processing center to meet with the newly hired workers. If you are going to be joining the City Center team this makes for one stop shopping. Once you have processed into your job, you can stop by and sign the card to insure that job has the top benefits that make our jobs some of the best in the industry. If you somehow miss us, make sure to come down to the Culinary or Bartenders union halls and ask to sign your card for City Center. The sooner we reach that majority the sooner all of your benefits will begin.

Congratulations to everyone going over to open this exciting new resort. You will be making history. But remember we cannot take for granted that City Center is automatically union. You all have an important part to play in securing not just your own future, but the future for all of our brothers and sisters in Las Vegas. §

IMPORTANT REMINDER: FRAUD ALERT

Be careful when using Debit cards……

File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc., were stolen or compromised. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step towards an investigation (if there ever is one).

Sign the back of your credit cards--and, put“PHOTO ID REQUIRED.” When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the“For” line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it.

called to tell me an application for credit was made over the internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.