The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its first Cemex order, named for the landmark case it ruled on last year, requiring Station Casinos to bargain with the Culinary Workers Union. In its ruling, the NLRB found that the company had repeatedly violated labor laws to discourage worker support for the Culinary Union.
The decision, released in mid-June, orders the Red Rock Casino, Boulder Station, and Palace Station to recognize the Culinary Union and engage in good-faith bargaining with the labor organization.
The Cemex order is based on the concept that a company’s actions during a unionization campaign tainted the process so thoroughly that it rendered the election results irrelevant. In the Station Casino case, the Culinary Union lost their election 627-534.
The Culinary Union filed a complaint in 2019, alleging that Station Casinos offered benefits like healthcare and retirement plans to influence workers to vote against unionization. The complaint also outlined threats of termination and discriminatory work assignments directed at employees who supported the union.
The Board found that managers committed “serious pervasive unlawful misconduct” before employees filed for a union election and continued their misconduct at least six months after the vote had concluded.
On one instance, the NLRB says that Station served workers hundreds of free steaks branded with the words “VOTE NO!” The Board found the company did this because food quality had been listed as a “top employee concern” and the company wanted to show that the food would improve if the casino stayed non-union.
The Culinary Workers Union represents casino and hotel workers on the Las Vegas Strip and throughout downtown. The Station Casinos are one of the few non-union casinos.
The Board’s decision covers 16 unfair labor practices charges filed against the three casinos. An administrative law judge ruled against the company in 2022, and the NLRB panel upheld that decision.
In its decision, the NLRB order mandated that the Station Casinos reinstate a terminated employee and remove employee images from an anti-union website.
“This decision affirms what we have been saying for years,” said Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge. “Station Casinos violated the law and must bargain with the union due to their unlawful actions that corrupted the process for a free and fair union election.”
