Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Everybody’s gotta watch’: De Niro’s Rothstein quoted in opinion on MGM security guards

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Robert De Niro appears in the movie, “Casino.” His character, Sam “Ace” Rothstein, was quoted this week by a judge in a ruling about security technicians and unions at Bellagio and the Mirage.

A District of Columbia Circuit Court judge quoted Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Robert De Niro’s character in “Casino,” in an opinion released Tuesday that found security technicians at Bellagio and the Mirage cannot be represented by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local (IUOE) 501.

The case hinged on whether the job description for the technicians, who operate and set up surveillance systems including cameras, meets the National Labor Relations Act definition of security guards.

The definition is important because the act requires security guards belong to a union separate from that of other employees to avoid conflicts of interest.

The act says that guards “enforce, against colleagues and other persons, rules to protect property of the employer or to protect the safety of persons on the employer’s premises.” Conflicts of interest can occur if security guards have to enforce those rules in situations involving fellow union members.

In October 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified IUOE Local 501 as the union representing technicians at the Mirage and Bellagio. The casinos, however, refused to negotiate with union officials.

In turn, the regional office of the NLRB found that the two casinos (both operated by MGM Resorts International) had engaged in an unfair labor practice by refusing to bargain collectively with their employees’ chosen representatives.

In response, the Bellagio and Mirage petitioned the court to overturn that finding, which the court did in Tuesday’s opinion.

In the opening text of that opinion, Circuit Court Judge Karen Henderson quoted a short speech made by De Niro’s character Sam “Ace” Rothstein. It reads:

“In Vegas, everybody’s gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The boxmen are watching the dealers. The floormen are watching the boxmen. The pit bosses are watching the floormen. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I’m watching the casino manager. And the eye in the sky is watching us all.”

The Las Vegas Sun reached out to representatives at the regional office of the NLRB, MGM International and IUOE Local 501 but had not received responses before publication of this story.

Security guards at the Bellagio and the Mirage are not represented by a union. However, guards at Mandalay Bay, another MGM resort, have been represented by the International Union of Security, Police, and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA), since December.

Dwayne Philips, a director at SPFPA, wouldn’t comment on the case because he had not read the court’s opinion.

However, he did say his union is negotiating a contract with Mandalay Bay and is coordinating with workers to organize guards at four other Las Vegas casinos, although he wouldn’t say which ones.

The SPFPA has been working to unionize security guards in Las Vegas since at least the mid 1990s.

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