Frontier workers back with high hopes

By Dave Berns
Review-Journal

      Terry Mattes had become a jack-of-all trades after more than six years on strike.
      She served cocktails at The Mirage, worked as a coffee shop hostess at Luxor and studied to become a certified nurse's assistant through a program at the Community College of Southern Nevada.
      But once Kansas businessman Phil Ruffin ended the 6 1/2-year strike at the Frontier, Mattes was ready to return.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson holds up the scissors he and new Frontier owner Phil Ruffin, left of center, used for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting to re-open the hotel-casino at midnight Saturday, signaling the end of the nation's longest ongoing work stoppage. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

      So, there she was Sunday afternoon serving a Scotch and soda to a gambler at The New Frontier, reflecting upon her recent work experiences.
      "I never expected to come back. I gave it up," she said. "Yup, I had given up, but here I am."
      Sunday was the opening of the Ruffin era at The New Frontier, after the Wichita real estate investor took control of the property he had purchased for $167 million in cash from 10-year Frontier owner Margaret Elardi.
      The strike-plagued property had been the target of the longest ongoing work stoppage in the country, with workers pushing for better benefits and wages.
      Early foot traffic was strong Sunday, bolstered by an estimated 4,000 late-night revelers who entered the hotel and casino after a Saturday midnight ribbon-cutting ceremony that featured Ruffin and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
      The civil rights leader and former presidential candidate had been a regular speaker at rallies organized throughout the strike by the Frontier's union workers.
      After Ruffin and Jackson snipped the red ribbon, thousands pushed their way into the casino led by union activists carrying flags that represented their local chapters. Many of the ex-strikers cheered loudly, as some had tears running down the sides of their faces.
      An estimated 300 of the 550 strikers are returning to work. Many related the scene of the Sunday morning changeover to a World War II movie, where one army liberates a village from another.
      "The whole feeling is unreal. It just doesn't seem real," said Glenn Arnodo, political action director for Culinary Local 226, one of five unions that struck the Frontier.
      Ruffin said one of his first tasks is to change the corporate culture of The New Frontier. The Elardi regime had developed a reputation among many workers as a suspicious management team that gave little autonomy to it employees.
      "I'm speaking to everybody. Patting them on the back," Ruffin said. "I never feel I'm better than anybody. I don't like to isolate myself from my employees."
      Ruffin, who made his fortune through opening a chain of 82 self-serve gas stations in the Midwest, plans to immediately invest $20 million in The New Frontier to renovate much of the property.
      But his vision for the site is much broader.
      "First thing, we're in our embryo stage," he said. "If we needed to put $700 million in, we could do it, but I'm not going to do it until I know where we're going."
      Ruffin, who also owns 12 Marriott hotels and a casino in the Bahamas, said he recently made a pitch to the Rouse Co. to buy the neighboring Fashion Show mall. But the Maryland-based company rejected the offer.
      He had plans to link the mall to a 3,000-room hotel and casino project that would border The New Frontier. Ruffin recently purchased a 99-year lease from Elardi for a neighboring 15-acre parcel of land, giving him an estimated 25 acres of developable property along the Strip.
      "We threw a lot of money at (Rouse), and it's just not for sale," Ruffin said. "Apparently, it's not going to happen at this time, but I'm persistent."