Kihuen snubs NLV State of the City address in protest of Station Casinos

By Megan Messerly

Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 | 6:15 p.m.

Congressional candidate and state Sen. Ruben Kihuen will not attend North Las Vegas’ State of the City address next week because it will be held at a Station Casinos property, he wrote in a letter to the city’s mayor today.

In the letter, Kihuen said that he was “eager” to hear about the work the city he grew up in had done but could not attend the event at Texas Station in light of what he described as Station Casinos’ unfair treatment of its employees.

“I believe as elected officials, we have an obligation to speak out against companies operating against the interests of our constituents, and I believe holding public or political events at Station Casinos stands in direct contrast with that obligation,” Kihuen wrote to North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.

Kihuen noted that Station was found to have violated federal labor law by the National Labor Relations Board more than 80 times and accused the company of engaging in a “vicious media and public relations campaign” against the Culinary Union. Kihuen has marched and fasted with the Culinary Union multiple times and his mother is a housekeeper at the MGM Grand and a 22-year member of the union.

Records from the Nevada Secretary of State's Office show that in December 2013 Kihuen accepted a $2,500 contribution from Station Casinos for his re-election campaign to the state Senate. Kihuen’s campaign manager David Chase said in an email that Kihuen was “pleased” that Station contributed in 2013, “hoping their contribution signaled a shift in policy.”

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen the opposite,” Chase said. “Ruben will continue to speak out against Station Casinos' shameful practices until they change.”

Kihuen is in a competitive four-way Democratic primary for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District seat, which is held by Republican Rep. Cresent Hardy but leans Democratic.

The union and Station Casinos have been at odds for years. On one hand, Station has said that if the company’s workers want to unionize, all they have to do is vote. On the other, the union and workers have contended that Station management has intimidated and harassed workers to keep them from unionizing.

Station spokeswoman Lori Nelson called Kihuen’s decision to not attend the address “surprising and disingenuous,” saying that the senator has never contacted any of Station’s team members to talk about any of his concerns. Kihuen’s campaign was not able to immediately confirm whether the senator had.

“We’re proud of our 40-year history in the community,” Nelson said. “The Fertitta family has prided itself on treating its families with fairness and respect. We’ve always respected our employees’ right to join a union if that’s what they want to do.”

The Culinary Union lauded the senator for his action.

“We applaud state Sen. Ruben Kihuen's decision to stand with working men and women who are fighting for justice at Station Casinos,” said the union’s secretary-treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline, in a statement.

The city of North Las Vegas could not be immediately reached for comment.