'The best way to avoid a strike is to be strong. 'We call our strike fund a defense fund,' Bruce Raynor, chairman of Amalgamated Bank and general president of the UNITE HERE union, told an audience of about 50 workers and members of the media Tuesday during an event to announce the creation of the fund. The money, union officials said on Tuesday, will be powerful leverage for workers during negotiations with casino owners who are trying to keep costs down, especially in struggling markets such as downtown Las Vegas.
12, although union officials say workers will stay on the job if negotiation talks are productive. A strike vote for the Southern Nevada employees is scheduled for Sept. Workers at 17 properties in Las Vegas and one in Reno are seeking new contracts. The fund is the largest of its kind in the history of Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 and includes money from a recent increase in members’ dues and a $50 million line of credit from Amalgamated Bank, a union-owned bank in New York. More than 12,000 Nevada casino workers, including employees at nearly every casino in downtown Las Vegas, will have access to $80 million to sustain them in the event of a strike.
