Station Casinos union-busting complaint goes to labor court

The next phase of a trial at the nation’s top labor relations court beginning Tuesday puts allegations of union-busting at Station Casinos in court.

The case stems from a complaint announced in April 2021. Attorneys for the National Labor Relations Board argued that Red Rock Resorts – the parent company of the Station Casinos brand – used the COVID-19 pandemic layoffs to undermine Culinary Local 226 union-affiliated workers and union representation in the company.

Speaking to media outside of the Foley Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, where the evidentiary phase of the trial began Tuesday morning, union secretary-treasurer Ted Pappageorge said the trial could make the company “face the consequences of their anti-union and anti-worker actions.”

Alba Acosta, a banquet server at Red Rock casino, said she had worked her way up over 17 years to the “B” list that can get about 30 hours per week in shifts. But post-pandemic, she was rehired as an on-call worker. Acosta said she’s “lucky” to get one shift in a week.

“They promised to give so much such as free health care, but now with my limited hours, I am not qualified to receive it,” Acosta said. “Its benefits are only for full-time employees, which pre-pandemic I was. One of (Station Casinos’) most famous quotes is, ‘We love locals,’ but it’s refusing to give back what really matters: our jobs.”

Union members said they hope the trial ends with an order that forces the company to recognize Culinary as the bargaining unit and ultimately, negotiate a contract for unionized Station Casinos workers.

An NLRB decision in June ordered Red Rock Resorts to bargain with Culinary at Red Rock casino because it engaged in union-busting tactics before workers voted on representation. The company said it appealed that decision in the D.C. Court of Appeals.

Red Rock officials declined to comment on the pending litigation, but called the actions part of the union’s “continuing, unsuccessful, and multidecade harassment program targeting Station Casinos.” It pointed out that union representation votes have failed or were eventually repealed at multiple properties – though some of those actions are the subject of unfair labor practice allegations in the trial.

“No amount of noise, bluster, or harassment from the Culinary Union will turn our team members’ ‘no’ to the Culinary Union into a ‘yes,’ and the Culinary Union should immediately stop using litigation to overturn the democratic will of our team members,” the company said in a statement.

Don’t expect the case to move quickly. There are 39 hearing dates scheduled in 2024 spread out through the end of the year.

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.