Culinary rally risks creating ill will on ‘Night of the Gael’

Culinary union officials wanted to get your attention, Las Vegas, and they think they've found a way to do that.

The plan, as advertised in fliers distributed to the many casino properties that have contracts with Local 226, is to stage a rally to protest working conditions at the nonunion Station Casinos properties. The union and Station Casinos are locked in a protracted and increasingly ugly labor battle.

The union action is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at Red Rock Station. ("Free hat and souvenir button for the 1st 200 to sign in," the flier exclaims.) Local 226 political director Yvanna Cancela says as many as 2,000 workers are expected to assemble, but this time no arrests for civil disobedience are anticipated.

Perhaps those loyal service workers who receive their free hats for the rally will wave them at the hundreds of locals who are scheduled to turn out Thursday night at the Red Rock for the annual "Night of the Gael" fundraiser to benefit Bishop Gorman High School.

You wanted the community's attention, Culinary?

You're certain to get it now.

The Night of the Gael is Gorman's annual fundraiser, and each year the event draws hundreds of supporters from the heart of Las Vegas society. Culinary officials say it's just a coincidence.

"It was a date that worked for us," Cancela says, adding the rally was timed to coincide with the gathering in Las Vegas of the general executive board of Local 226's parent organization, UNITE HERE.

But no one is going to buy that even after the union this week sent conciliatory letters to the school's president and Catholic Bishop Joseph Pepe. In a fight this long and bruising, conspiracies are plentiful, and there's no room for coincidence.

"We feel the work that Bishop Gorman does in the community is tremendous," Cancela assures skeptics. "It is an asset to the community."

Yes, and so is the Culinary union, which represents approximately 60,000 service workers and for decades has fought for living wages and working conditions for its members. The union can argue a compelling case on the facts.

But it's no secret the Fertitta family, founders and longtime operators of Station Casinos, are generous Gorman benefactors. The school's sparkling football field bears the family name. The name is inextricably linked to Gorman.

And there's another name attached to the Night of the Gael, that of the Engelstad Family Foundation. It is being honored Thursday for its immense charity in the community and at the school. The foundation is not only among the most generous in the history of the state, but it has funded a variety of services and institutions that surely have benefited scores of Culinary workers.

All that said, the action could still go very well for the union. With a couple thousand working people expected to assemble, their stories of trying to make ends meet in hard times are dramatic. And the anticipated appearance of AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who has a news conference scheduled for Thursday morning, might illustrate the workers' plight and focus on employment conditions inside Stations properties.

But there are 100 ways it could go wrong -- not the least of which is allowing itself to appear to be ostracizing people turning out for a Catholic high school fundraiser that is also honoring a generous family foundation.

It's not a stretch to think Station's political spin doctors will try to turn the labor action against the union bosses and paint them as insensitive to Catholics and everyone from cancer victims to mentally challenged children. This is the risk the union is taking.

So here's some unsolicited advice. Presuming the appropriate permits can be amended, Culinary could delay its mass assembly a day or two. The union would look strong and sensitive.

That act not only would grab the community's attention but would upstage the union's foes.

And the union might make a few friends in the process.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Smith