Columnist Jeff German: Labor cranking up political machine in Campaign '98

NEVADA'S LABOR MOVEMENT is determined to play a vital role in the November general election.

For the first time in years, it has come up with a gameplan to mobilize the 120,000 members of the Nevada AFL-CIO into a giant voting block.

The campaign is called "Labor '98," an ambitious grass-roots operation funded by national and state union money.

"We think we literally have the ability to sit down at the kitchen table with every union household in Nevada and explain to them the issues important to labor," says Glen Arnodo, political director of the Culinary Union, the largest AFL-CIO local in the state.

The Culinary Union, which is serving as the point in the massive grass-roots drive, plans to send 90 of its members into the field full time to encourage union families across the state to vote for the slate of candidates endorsed by the AFL-CIO. It will be an expanded version of the successful strategy the Culinary used to knock off state Sen. Jack Regan, D-Las Vegas, in last week's primary. Treasure Island waitress Maggie Carlton, a Culinary member, defeated Regan.

The main objective of Labor '98 is to help Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., get re-elected and Regent Shelley Berkley win a House seat.

But beyond that, the campaign has potential for great impact on other key races, such as the one for governor between Republican businessman Kenny Guinn and Democratic Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones.

In June, when the AFL-CIO handed out its endorsements, it kept the governor's race open because none of the candidates could muster up enough votes to win labor's backing.

Now that the primary is over, however, the AFL-CIO plans to revisit the subject during its state convention at the New Frontier hotel-casino Sept. 14-15.

And word is Jones now has the inside track.

Guinn, who has been courting labor, primarily the Culinary Union, for more than two years, is a definite long-shot.

This comes despite his courageous stance in the middle of the Republican primary against his own party's push for the anti-labor paycheck protection initiative. The ballot campaign ultimately was aborted, and labor leaders praised Guinn's role in killing it.

But Guinn's strong position against collective bargaining for state employees has hurt his endorsement chances in the eyes of many labor leaders. Jones is on record supporting the issue, which will be the subject of a major push by labor at the 1999 Legislature.

"Unfortunately for Kenny, collective bargaining is what we're all about," says one ranking labor leader.

The State of Nevada Employees Association, which has the most to gain by collective bargaining legislation, is working the hardest behind the scenes on the mayor's behalf.

Guinn's best-case scenario now is to persuade other unions to block Jones from receiving the AFL-CIO endorsement, but even that seems unlikely. Jones is said to have the two-thirds majority needed to prevail.

Still, all is not lost for Guinn, who enjoys the strong support of the politically active Las Vegas Police Protective Association.

If the Republican nominee can persuade the influential Culinary Union to stay somewhat neutral in his race, it could even out the playing field in the battle for union votes in November.

For the moment, however, Jones is in great shape, having landed the coveted spot of welcoming the union delegates to the New Frontier on Sept. 14. Her speech is right before the keynote address of national AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.

Guinn, who impressed labor leaders at the convention a year ago, isn't scheduled to talk to the delegates until Tuesday morning.

This year, two other Republicans who have labor's backing, Secretary of State Dean Heller and attorney general candidate Scott Scherer, also are listed as convention speakers. Two-term Democratic Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, however, wasn't even invited to speak, an indication of how badly she has slipped with labor.

In the meantime, Labor '98 kicks off with much anticipation inside the Culinary Union and AFL-CIO.

"We're excited," Arnodo says. "Everyone has seen what our grass-roots operation can do on a local level. Now we have an opportunity to take that a big step further."

Big enough, maybe, to crush the political fortunes of some candidates in November.

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