Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Tom Stoneburner, Reno union organizer, dies
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO -- Veteran union organizer Tom Stoneburner, who led workers at the Reno Hilton in a walkout in 1995 and backed Harrah's Reno bartender Darlene Jesperson in her fight against a company order that she wear makeup, has died. He was 60.
Stoneburner died on Monday of a heart attack at his home in Palomino Valley, north of Reno, according to friend and fellow activist Andrew Barbano.
Stoneburner, a San Diego native who was a deputy in California's Mono County before moving to Reno, had been a security guard at Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Reno for about 10 years.
He won Northern Nevada's first successful election to unionize security guards at Circus Circus in 1994, although the ratification was later decertified.
In 1996, security guards at the Reno Hilton voted to become the only unionized security staff in the state a year after walking out on strike.
He formed the Alliance for Workers Rights in 1997, which backed Jesperson and organized "Kiss My Foot" demonstrations in Reno and Las Vegas against casinos' requirement that some workers wear spiked heels.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy, two sons and a daughter.
A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Reno following a private funeral. His wife asked that donations be made to the Alliance for Workers Rights in lieu of flowers.
