O’Malley goes after Trump, touts unionization in Vegas

Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley on Wednesday rallied workers seeking to unionize at the Trump International in Las Vegas and criticized Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

O'Malley used Trump's gleaming gold hotel as a backdrop and was joined by hotel workers who are pushing to join the Culinary Local 226. The union plans a march there on Friday.

"Our economy is not money," O'Malley said, standing on a road median with about 10 union organizers and workers standing behind him. "Our economy is people."

O'Malley's comments as a low-profile Democratic candidate were leveled directly against the real estate tycoon, part of a crowded field of 17 GOP candidates.

Trump's company owns the hotel off the Strip along Fashion Show Drive. The 64-story hotel opened in 2008.

O'Malley said it's critical that workers get the wages and benefits they need, which will help the economy grow and prosper. He said the workers have "a lot more guts" than the GOP candidates.

Union officials say workers have faced harassment and intimidation while trying to organize. They've gathered about 500 signatures from workers in their petition supporting the effort.

They also made use of Trump's campaign phrase "Make America Great Again."

"This is a great opportunity for Mr. Trump to make America great again," said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer of the union.

Eric Trump, Trump's son and executive vice president of development and acquisitions for The Trump Organization, said the hotel has more than 650 valued employees who time after time have rejected union organization.

"We've invested close to a billion dollars in the city," Trump said in an interview. "It's humorous that Mr. O'Malley, who's never created a job and has no relationship in Las Vegas, wants to showboat in front of Trump International."

O'Malley, 52, was governor of Maryland for eight years. He left office in January 2015 and announced in May he is running for president.

In a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday, O'Malley had just 2 percent support among Democratic voters, lagging Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

In that poll, Clinton had 47 percent, Sanders had 29 percent, and Vice President Joe Biden, who hasn't announced yet if he'll run, had 14 percent support. Former Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb had 1 percent and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee had less than 1 percent.

O'Malley also planned to speak Wednesday to union leaders at the Nevada AFL-CIO convention, an event closed to the media. Sanders and Clinton spoke there Tuesday.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1