Tuesday, Oct. 28, 1997 | 10:12 a.m.
The Frontier hotel-casino has been sold, signaling an end to the nation's longest-running strike.
Phil Ruffin, a Kansas hotelier and industrialist, is paying Frontier owner Margaret Elardi and her two sons, Tom and John Elardi, more than $165 million for the resort and its 26 acres of prime Strip real estate, sources close to the deal told the SUN.
Ruffin, owner of the multi-faceted Ruffin Companies in Wichita, Kan., which runs a dozen Marriott hotels, one with a casino in the Bahamas, agreed to sign a Culinary Union contract and hire back the 550 Frontier workers who walked off their jobs Sept. 21, 1991.
The six-year-old strike, the subject of much national attention, will continue for the next couple of months until Ruffin obtains his gaming license and takes over the property, which is between the Fashion Show Mall and the Stardust hotel-casino.
In an interview from Nassau, Bahamas, this morning, Ruffin said he was pleased to have acquired the Frontier and that he plans to spend another $20 million remodeling the resort.
"We'll do whatever is necessary to bring it up to a first-class hotel," he said. "If you're going to be in the business, Vegas is certainly the No. 1 destination in the world."
Ruffin, who owns Marriott's upscale Crystal Palace Resort & Casino in Nassau, said he considers the Frontier land part of the "most valuable strip of ground in America."
The Elardi family declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement, said Steve Cohen, their attorney who participated in the negotiations.
State Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible said Ruffin's gaming application, expected to be filed today, would be put on the fast track and set for a public hearing by the first of the year.
"This sales transaction brings to an end the longest and most frustrating labor dispute in Nevada casino history," Bible said. "It's a win-win for everybody involved -- the city of Las Vegas, the Culinary Union and the Elardi family."
Bible said a complaint seeking to revoke the Frontier's license because of alleged spying and other misconduct during the strike would not be filed.
"I don't see us going forward with the complaint anymore," Bible said.
The board had prepared the complaint, but held onto it during the top-secret sale negotiations the past six weeks.
Bible was briefed regularly during the talks involving Ruffin, union officials and the Elardi family.
Top AFL-CIO leaders in Washington, who created a special committee to investigate the Frontier strike, also were closely following the negotiations. The committee, chaired by former Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, now is expected to be disbanded.
"The anticipated positive conclusion of the Frontier strike is a huge boost to the entire union movement," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said today from Washington. "It is a testament to the remarkable tenacity of the workers at the Frontier and the active support of unions and their allies all across the country."
Ruffin, who oversees 5,000 employees in his hotels and other businesses across the country, said his ability to reach an agreement with the Culinary Union iced the deal with the Elardi family.
"We wouldn't have bought it if we couldn't have gotten that done," he said. "We'll open as a union hotel. We'll be signing a five-year contract with the union."
The Culinary is seeking five-year contracts with 39 other Las Vegas casinos this year.
Still to be negotiated in the coming weeks is the amount Ruffin will reimburse the strikers for back wages and benefits the Elardi family was ordered to pay by a federal court. The payment is likely to total several million dollars.
International Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer John Wilhelm today called the Frontier sale a victory for organized labor in Las Vegas, saying the striking workers ended up achieving their objectives.
"I don't think it's any exaggeration to say that the strikers have preserved the standard of living for working people in Las Vegas for generations to come," Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm praised Ruffin and Elardi for signing the sale agreement.
"While we had a bitter dispute with Mrs. Elardi, I think it's to her credit that in the end she's done the right thing," he said. "She sold to a person who has been extremely honest and straightforward in wanting to get the labor issues resolved."
Culinary leaders briefed Frontier picket captains on the deal late Monday night and planned to explain the agreement today to those manning the picket lines.
Wilhelm said the union looked forward to working with Ruffin "to restore the Frontier to the best that it once was on the Strip."
Ruffin said he holds an option to lease an adjoining 16.8 acres owned by Elardi to further develop the Frontier.
He described Elardi as a "nice lady" who was "ready to make a change."
Ruffin, who has invested heavily in the Kansas oil industry, owns hotels in such cities as Long Beach, Wichita, Tulsa, Dallas and Huntsville, Ala.
His company has 4 million square feet of commercial property in the United States, including a massive hotel and business complex in Tulsa, a chain of 61 convenience stores, and the world's largest manufacturing plant for hand trucks.
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