Sunday, March 9, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Union officials pledged a determined drive in the Reno area, where unions have been slow to catch on and wages have lagged behind those in Las Vegas.
"If we use all our leverage, then we can succeed," union organizer D. Taylor told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I think we will see very slow progress. But things have to change. It's outrageous."
The union's Reno and Las Vegas locals will work closer together as part of a new strategy to bring workers into the fold, he said.
Reno casino workers are ready for representation, say officials of what is formally known as the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.
"Everything up here is inflated, but wages are lower," said Scott MacKenzie, secretary-treasurer of the Reno local. "The workers are struggling to survive."
Las Vegas hotel-casino workers earn 36 percent more than their Reno counterparts, according to state statistics.
State officials attributed the gap in part to union representation. The Culinary union represents one in four hotel-casino employees in Las Vegas, far more than in Reno.
But some Reno casino operators said wages in Reno can't reach those in Las Vegas because cash flows there are so much higher.
"The city of Reno does not generate that kind of cash flow," said Terry Hart, personnel manager at the Peppermill Hotel Casino in Reno. "It would be impossible for (Reno) casinos to operate under union wage demands."
The demands would come at a time when Reno casinos are struggling from flat gaming wins and a vicious room-rate war, executives said.
"It's going to hurt financially," said Paul Cox, general manager of the Old Reno Casino.
Reno casino operators said the unity between the two Culinary locals won't give labor much more leverage with many locally owned resorts.
But the more unified approach could hit corporate operations such as Harrah's Reno, the Reno Hilton and Peppermill, which also have operations in Las Vegas.
"The big fear is they will lean on Vegas operators," said Pete Cladianos III, executive vice president of the Sands Regency in Reno. "They can exert some heavy pressure on multi-city gaming operations."
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