Union organizing or freedom of speech: T-shirts flap in Rio wind

By Michael Mishak

Friday, July 11, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Here’s a flavor of the labor-management tensions at the Rio, where dealers will vote Saturday on whether to organize:

A Wynn Las Vegas dealer playing in the World Series of Poker this week at the Rio says she and a group of friends were asked by casino security to remove their union-branded T-shirts or leave the property.

Josephine Tang, who doubled as an in-house organizer for the Transport Workers Union at the Wynn last year, said the incident occurred after she was eliminated from the poker tournament’s casino-employees event. She said she and a group of friends — all wearing union T-shirts — were waiting to be seated at the All-American Bar & Grille when they were approached by Rio security and told their apparel was “offensive.” If they wanted to stay, security said, they would have to remove their T-shirts.

Everyone refused. Tang, who was staying at the Rio, said her friends left the casino — and that security followed her back to her room.

“People in this country have freedom of speech — whether it’s a shirt or a button — and they should be able to wear what they want without being kicked out,” Tang said.

A spokesman for Harrah’s Entertainment, which owns the Rio, said the group, which included the union’s international director of organizing, was “loitering” near an employee corridor and illegally soliciting dealers as they came and went from the casino floor.

“They were not dining at any restaurants or lounging in any bars,” Gary Thompson said. “They were simply attempting to solicit on behalf of the Transport Workers Union, and our dealers didn’t appreciate it.”

The dust-up comes as the Transport Workers Union seeks its third win at Las Vegas casinos. A controversial tip-sharing program instituted by the Wynn has spurred a dealer movement that is spreading up and down the Strip. The union, however, has had a tough time as it tries to establish its international gaming division here. Dealers at Wynn Las Vegas and Caesars Palace voted for the union last year but negotiators have yet to win a contract.