In Business Las Vegas, April 6th, 2007
Though small-fry for
Las Vegas
, an interior carpentry job at an Outback Steakhouse in
Laughlin
has sparked a daily union protest and involved the National Labor Relations Board.
The Aquarius Casino wants the Carpenters gone, saying they are illegally picketing with the intent to break its relationship with the Australian-steak chain. Representatives stand outside the property, passing out 500 fliers a day to snowbirds and other vacationers.
The Carpenters — the most prolific protesters in the Las Vegas Valley with their "Shame On" banners — say they have the law on their side.
"It's kind of an automatic reaction," said
Tim
Carlton
, who runs Carpenters 897 out of
Bullhead City, Ariz.
"They think it's a picket, but it's not a picket. Pickets have all kinds of rules. The great thing about a banner is you can put it up anytime. A banner you can put up 10 years later."
The protest is about an Oklahoma-based carpentry subcontractor, Interior Custom Finishes, which was hired instead of a union subcontractor that had bid on the project. The Carpenters found the Oklahoma crew did not have a Nevada license, so they had the state's Board of Contractors order them to stop work.
The subcontractor was hired by Gamma Construction Co., which has headquarters in
Houston
. Outback Steakhouse's parent hired the general contractor.
Gamma did not return a phone call to comment.
A spokesman for American Casinos and Entertainment Properties also declined comment. Besides the Aquarius, the company owns the Stratosphere and two Arizona Charlie's properties.
The National Labor Relations Board has investigated the charge, which was filed March 23, but it has not decided whether to pursue a case against the Carpenters. In bannering cases, the agency takes into account the location and duration of the protest, what signs say and the existence of handbills among other things.
"They're very, very productive and very useful,"
Carlton
said. The union usually has 25 to 40 of those protests up in
Las Vegas
at any time, and even more are up in a city like
Los Angeles
.
Carlton
said awarding the Outback Steakhouse contract to a non-union, out-of-town company means that local workers must drive past that site, at 3:30 a.m., to get to a job in
Las Vegas
. He said the wage difference is $16 an hour for a non-union employee paid with cash, compared to $30 an hour for a union worker, who also gets an estimated $12 an hour in benefits.
About 25 carpenters had been working on the site. Local 897 tried to organize the non-unionized carpenters, but
Carlton
said they were kicked off the job site.
The Carpenters protest might seem hypocritical because its union members in
Las Vegas
generally would not go after a small project, but
Carlton
said the local protects its backyard fiercely.
"This is our position: We think the Aquarius has the responsibility to at least have a meeting to make sure the tenant is hiring contractors legally," he said.
The union has a good relationship with American Casinos managers, he added.
"I hope it's just communication breakdown," he said. "We did try to do our due diligence. We asked questions and made phone calls. We quietly went on the job site. Somebody somewhere got their hackles up. We don't just do it for fun because we're bullies. We do it with a purpose — we're pretty surgical."
Meanwhile, Laughlin is gearing up for its biker festival, the 25th-annual Laughlin River Run, from April 25 to April 29.
"With things like this, they can be settled in the next hour or we might be there a year after the Outback opens,"
Carlton
said. "There are a ton of snowbirds down there. About seven out of 10 say: ‘Oh, that's bull----.’"
The remainder, some of whom are retired union workers, take up the Carpenters' side.
