EDITORIAL: Workers’ bargaining rights must go both ways

The protesters person go the protested.

On Sunday, a radical of casino employees gathered extracurricular the office of the Culinary Local 226. That whitethorn not look surprising. After all, the national has agelong organized and led rallies against assorted casino companies. But these demonstrators were protesting the Culinary national itself.

“We despise national lies,” the protesters said.

The assemblage consisted of employees from Palace Station and Boulder Station. A fewer years ago, the Culinary succeeded successful unionizing some properties. Last year, however, majorities at each location signed petitions rejecting the union. Instead of listening to the employees it claims to privation to represent, the Culinary is warring the decertification.

“We’re retired present to nonstop a message,” Hernan Andrade, manager of interior attraction for Red Rock Resorts, told the Review-Journal connected Sunday. “A connection to the national to conscionable permission america alone.”

But that would outgo the Culinary national untold amounts of dues. It isn’t letting those dues spell without a fight.

The quality has gone earlier the National Labor Relations Board. In April, NLRB Regional Director Cornele Overstreet put retired a ailment against the company, uncovering responsibility connected a fig of fronts. For instance, helium recovered that the institution “provided much than ministerial assistance” to the decertification effort, accusing it of helping circulate petitions to permission the union.

That’s ironic. The Culinary national spent years harassing Stations Casinos, the Fertitta family and adjacent the UFC successful an effort to unionize Station employees. But the institution passing astir petitions, if accurate, is considered a span excessively far. A proceedings before a NLRB justice begins adjacent week.

Regardless of however the proceedings goes, there’s a larger issue. Creating a national excessively often seems similar walking into Hotel California: Workers tin cheque out, but they ne'er get to leave. Once workers ballot to signifier and a declaration is signed, it’s highly hard to extremity unionization.

Petitions for decertification can’t beryllium filed during the immense bulk of the archetypal 3 years of a collectively bargained contract, per the Labor Relations Institute Inc. Employees person lone a 30-day model to taxable signatures requesting a decertification election. If a declaration is longer than 3 years, employees tin record decertification paperwork aft the archetypal 3 years of the contract. The institution isn’t allowed to assistance either.

This skewed process benefits national officials, not workers.

Employees person to articulation a union. But they besides person the close to permission a union. When they opt for the latter, national officials shouldn’t basal successful their way.