Worker Station

Four years ago, they took over half-a-billion dollars from Station Casinos

2007 LBO cash payments to Station Casinos company insiders:

• Blake Sartini and Delise Sartini (née Fertitta): $200,919,330
• Frank J. Fertitta III: $148,654,355
• Lorenzo J. Fertitta: $145,069,850

Also,

• Glenn Christenson: $51,889,130 
• Scott Nielsen $41,130,055 
• William Warner $39,825,510
• Richard Haskins $16,563,680  
• Thomas Friel $5,860,265
• James Nave, DVM $3,641,700
• Lowell Lebermann, Jr. $2,801,700
• Lee Isgur $2,205,000
• Robert E. Lewis $1,575,000

Since 2007, Station Casinos workers have not had a wage increase. The company has made insurance costs more expensive and stopped matching contributions to 401(k)s.  There is no job security for Station Casinos workers. And the company has told workers not to join the union.

Sign a petition to demand fair treatment for Station Casinos workers!

 

Station Casinos Found to Be Largest Violator of Labor Law in the History of Nevada Gaming

On September 22, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Administrative Law Judge Geoffrey Carter found more violations of federal law by Station Casinos than in any previous case against a Nevada gaming company. (Update: the company has appealed the decision.)

The judge has recommended that Station be ordered to cease and desist from its wide-ranging violations of federal law. His decision gives the lie to Station’s propaganda about this case. It has told employees and the press that it has “at all times complied with the law.”  Now the truth is out. 

Judge Carter found that Station committed 87 separate unfair labor practices in its war against its employees’ organizing campaign with Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165. The unfair labor practices run the whole gamut of illegal conduct by employers to prevent organizing. It fired, disciplined, threatened, interrogated, offered bribes (promising benefits), and spied on its employees who were organizing for the union. It adopted rules designed to prevent employees from communicating with one another about the union. It told them that it would be futile for them to select the union to represent them.

This decision followed weeks of trial from October 2010 to May 2011. Station failed to call a single witness in its defense.  Instead, it tried to get the judge to dismiss the complaint on procedural grounds having to do with its claim that the union did not give it all the information it subpoenaed for trial. The judge rejected this request.  He also rejected Station’s request to be paid its litigation costs over the subpoena issues.

Station Casinos’ anti-union campaign has overwhelmingly affected Latino workers. While the company claims 26% of its workforce is Latino or Hispanic, 78% of the 87 labor law violations found by Judge Carter involve Latino workers. Moreover, eight of the ten worker organizers the company has fired so far are Latino. Three have been brought back to work after charges were filed with the NLRB.

See below for the list of federal labor law violations by Station Casinos found by the judge. For the full recommended decision by Judge Carter, go here.

ALJ Recommend Order-Cease and Desist

“Best Company to Work For” FAIL, again (UPDATED)

Why has Station Casinos failed to make Fortune Magazine’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For again, for the third year in a row?

In the 2007 buyout, thirteen top Station Casinos executives and owners paid themselves $660 million while saddling the company with billions of dollars of debt. This increased debt load made it difficult for the company to deal with the steep economic downturn in Las Vegas. It soon resorted to subcontracting out whole departments (reservations, uniform rooms) and customer-favorite coffee shops, putting hundreds of workers out of work. Since the buyout, the company had terminated more than 2,800 employees, cutting its workforce by over 20%, even though most of the top executives who benefited from the buyout have stayed in place and kept their jobs and their paychecks and perks.

Many workers have had enough and have demanded to be allowed to make their own decision about forming a union. The company responded by waging a brutal anti-union campaign, using alleged intimidation, harassment, surveillance and other union-busting tactics against its own employees. The government has charged the company with 201 violations of its employees’ right to participate in union activities, and the company is on trial in front of an National Labor Relations Board Administrative Judge.

It’s hardly a great workplace where employees, except those at the very top, cannot get affordable benefits and have no guarantee that you’ll have a job tomorrow no matter how long you’ve worked at the company. It cannot be a great place to work where management refuses to respect employees’ legal rights on the job. It’s no wonder Station Casinos has again failed to be named one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.

 

“Best Company to Work For” FAIL, again

Why has Station Casinos failed to make Fortune Magazine’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For again, for the third year in a row?

In the 2007 buyout, thirteen top Station Casinos executives and owners paid themselves $660 million while saddling the company with billions of dollars of debt. This increased debt load made it difficult for the company to deal with the steep economic downturn in Las Vegas. It soon resorted to subcontracting out whole departments (reservations, uniform rooms) and customer-favorite coffee shops, putting hundreds of workers out of work. Since the buyout, the company had terminated more than 2,800 employees, cutting its workforce by over 20%, even though most of the top executives who benefited from the buyout have stayed in place and kept their jobs and their pays and perks.

Many workers have had enough and have demanded to be allowed to make their own decision about forming a union. The company responded by waging a brutal anti-union campaign, using alleged intimidation, harassment, surveillance and other union-busting tactics against its own employees. The government has charged the company with over 165 violations of its employees’ right to participate in union activities, and the company is on trial in front of an National Labor Relations Board Administrative Judge.

It’s hardly a great workplace where employees, except those at the very top, cannot get affordable benefits and have no guarantee that you’ll have a job tomorrow no matter how long you’ve worked at the company. It cannot be a great place to work where management refuses to respect employees’ legal rights on the job. It’s no wonder Station Casinos has again failed to be named one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.