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.
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