Dealers of the World Unite!

We’ve written about Steve Wynn quite a bit, but as Las Vegas’ most recognizable face, he keeps popping up in the news. This from an article in Saturday’s Las Vegas Sun:

The Transport Workers Union, which primarily represents workers in the airline and railroad industries, has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for a secret-ballot election to represent Wynn Las Vegas dealers.

The move indicates the level of anger Wynn dealers have sustained eight months into management's decision to include frontline supervisors in the dealers' tip pool. Enough dealers - at least 30 percent - signed the petition, triggering the election process.

Although management says most dealers have made peace with the new tip-sharing program, some dealers say at least 60 percent of the casino's dealers support a union.

Again, this relates to the tip-sharing policy that we’ve discussed here.

This seems to be a bit of a last-ditch effort by some dealers, as their individual lawsuits have been dismissed, and it looks like a bill outlawing the tip-sharing arrangement is a no-go.

This would be a first at major Las Vegas casinos, while the waiters and housekeepers are represented by the Culinary Union at most places, dealers have remained unorganized. While it still remains to be seen if the dealers have the votes to Unionize, with a predictable variance in numbers between the dealers and Wynn representatives, this seems to be an unprecedented first step.

We’re not labor-relations experts, (We’re Gin experts) but this news has to send a shiver down the spine of all the casino operators in Las Vegas. If the union ultimately prevails at Wynn, how long before dealers at other properties organize?

As always, we will keep you updated.

It's not your ordinary union looking at Wynn dealers

Steve Wynn vs. His Own Dealers