Union, Tropicana to resume negotiations

New owner Columbia Sussex Corp. has trimmed the Tropicana work force over the past six months. However, with Columbia Sussex having announced it is delaying a $2.5 billion redevelopment of the Tropicana and last week’s agreement on a new contract with MGM Mirage, Taylor said Tuesday he hopes to quickly reach a new collective bargaining agreement for the Tropicana.

“We don’t think there is any hindrance to reach a settlement at all,” he said, adding nothing has been agreed upon.

The unions want to receive a response for proposals they submitted in May for new contracts for 700 Tropicana workers.

The unions had approximately 1,000 workers at the Tropicana a few months ago.

“We are going to put what we consider an extraordinarily fair offer on the table,” Columbia Sussex spokesman Hud Englehart said. “We hope the Culinary union will take the time to consider it and respond accordingly.”

The Fort Mitchell, Ky.-based company has not negotiated Culinary contracts in Las Vegas before. The company also owns the nonunion The Westin on Flamingo Road.

The Tropicana is one of 16 properties covering 10,000 hotel workers without new contracts.

Hotel workers that have not settled new collective bargaining agreements by Sept. 12 will vote to give their negotiating committees the authorization to call a strike.

The properties are the Tropicana, Sahara, Stratosphere, Las Vegas Hilton and 12 properties downtown.

Columbia Sussex acquired the Tropicana in January as part of the $2.1 billion buyout of Aztar Corp.

Englehart said Columbia Sussex was attracted to Aztar because the company “had a lot of fat on the expense side.”

“Aztar had some of the highest payroll ratios in the business,” Columbia Sussex Chief Executive Officer William Yung III said during the company’s last earnings call. “In some instances they had staff levels 50 percent higher than comparable properties.”

Taylor labeled that claim ridiculous and challenged the company to produce statistical data to back up its claim.

“That is a ludicrous assertion,” he said. “If they portray that at the negotiating table I think the workers would blow that away.”

Tropicana employees Yokasta Diaz and Anna Sotelo, both members of the negotiating committee, said customer service and safety are down at the property since the layoffs began.

“We don’t have supplies or the people to keep the place clean,” said Sotelo, a Tropicana waitress for 20 years. “I try to do the best I can to help clean but that shouldn’t be my job. My job is to serve food and take care of customers.”

Diaz, a casino porter for five years, said that where there used to be 13 to 19 porters on a shift there are now nine.