Employees at Guitar Center at Town Square vote to join union

The Guitar Center location at Town Square voted to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union with almost 75 percent of the workers voting in support of the movement.

Nationally, employees in two other Guitar Center stores in Manhattan and Chicago also voted to join.

Guitar Center has locations in 44 states, and two locations in Las Vegas, with one at Town Square, 6387 Las Vegas Blvd. South and one at 8621 W. Charleston Blvd.

Employee Doug Simpson spearheaded the effort to unionize locally.

“With this vote, we are aiming for better job security, better health benefits and more respect from management. It feels really good, like there’s hope to turn this into a decent job. It all boiled down to a lack of respect and the company trying to get more out of us for less money,” Simpson said in a statement provided by the union.

The Town Square location employs about 30 people, while the other Las Vegas location employs less than 25.

Guitar Center chain is owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm co-founded by Mitt Romney.