Recently, members of Culinary Local 226 at the Station Casinos facility made the decision to withdraw the union as their official representative.

Decision on the desertification of the union:

Most of the Culinary employees at Sunset Station, which is located in Henderson, have signed a worker-led petition to officially derecognize the union, according to the local casino operator. In addition, in June four years ago, aka in 2019, nearly 80% of employees decided to vote for union membership.

Based on the statement, the firm’s officials commented that the union was no longer an authorized bargaining agreement since it had been decertified.

Relatedly, the chairman of Red Rock Resorts, the parent firm of Station Casinos, Scott Kreeger, commented that the firm values the support of employees. On that note, in a statement, he said: “We look forward to having the same great direct relationships with this group of Team Members as we have with our Boulder Station, Palace Station, Santa Fe Station and Durango Team Members.”

Acrimonious relationship:

Station Casinos and the union have long been known to have a bitter relationship. In this sense, the union has been actively trying to organize Station assets for years and has had several winning campaigns.

However, they haven’t officially signed an agreement at either property, and a 2021 court ruling ordered the firm to negotiate fairly with union workers at Red Rock Resort.

Identical derecognition attempts took place in 2020 at the Palace and Boulder Stations. In connection with these attempts, the firm commented at the time that it wouldn’t acknowledge the union as the representative of those employees. The union also claimed in a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that this action by Station Casinos was illegal.

On a related note, in a statement dated April 22, Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer, claimed that the Station Casinos managers motivated the derecognition of the union. He further commented that the firm has a “shameful history of anti-worker behavior and losing.” He thinks, however, that the desertification of the union at Sunset Station is illegal.

Speaking on the matter, he commented in a statement: “The Culinary Union will file an unfair labor practice charge regarding the withdrawal and will continue to demand that the company negotiate in good faith towards a union contract. Union busting is disgusting, and the Culinary Union urges Station Casinos to do better.”

When asked to comment on the derecognition process, the NLRB didn’t respond or comment that it was aware of the current situation.

Few union derecognition processes require an election in which the boss may not take part. Nonetheless, according to Bill Werner, a University of Nevada Las Vegas professor, if an employer thinks they have proof of a majority, he may remove the union certification. In addition, he added that he predicted the union would challenge the decision to the NLRB, as it has in the past.

Commenting on this, Werner, a research specialist at the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, commented according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “When there’s a desertification like this, you can say you have a majority of signatures. How did you get it? What did you tell them? Who circulated this petition? The union’s grounds are to challenge that. Of course, it puts them in the same position they were before — Station isn’t bargaining with them. (It’s) more legal mess.”