In Nevada and the Local 226 branch of the Culinary Workers Union has announced that last week saw workers inside the Fiesta Rancho Hotel and Casino follow compatriots at five other sister venues in voting to unionize.

NLRB involvement:

According to an official press release from the trade union, Friday saw 147 workers at the Las Vegas casino take part in a secret ballot election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and resulted in some 85% opting to join either its roster or the ranks of the Local 165 chapter of the Bartenders Union.

Sixth success:

Fiesta Rancho Hotel and Casino is operated by the Station Casinos subsidiary of American casino operator Red Rock Resorts Incorporated and the outcome of the election means that it has become the firm’s sixth Nevada venue to unionize since September of 2016. The election moreover came only days after 83% of the workers at the nearby Sunset Station Hotel and Casino voted to join the ranks of the Culinary Workers Union in order to assist in their fight for a satisfactory employment contract.

Negotiation appeal:

Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Workers Union, used the press release to declare that the vote came three weeks after the NLRB ruled that Station Casinos had unlawfully refused to recognize or bargain with the Culinary Workers Union regarding a contract for its employees at the Palms Casino Resort.

Arguello-Kline’s statement read…

“Workers are standing up and fighting. Two Station Casinos’ properties have voted to unionize by a majority this week. We call on Station Casinos to immediately negotiate and settle a fair contract for the workers at Fiesta Rancho Hotel and Casino, Sunset Station Hotel and Casino, Palms Casino Resort, Green Valley Ranch, Palace Station Hotel and Casino and Boulder Station Hotel and Casino.”

Ongoing discontent:

Red Rock Resorts Incorporated is responsible for 19 venues in and around Las Vegas including the Fiesta Henderson Hotel and Casino, Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa and Santa Fe Station Hotel and Casino. The Nevada firm controlled by brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta has been blamed for a range of recent labor disputes involving its workers that have resulted in public pickets, threatened strikes and labor union membership drives.