Union Power in Las Vegas - October 15, 2004
by Sarah McConnell

     Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is housed in an unassuming building just beyond the overbearing Stratosphere Casino, somewhere between downtown Las Vegas and the Strip. The building is small and white, larger than life chefs and waitresses painted in blue on the side. Intended for the fourteen thousand members of the union at construction time, the building now serves fifty thousand Las Vegans, all employed in the dominant service industry. On October 15 our group met with Glen Arnodo, the lively political organizer of Culinary 226. From a Midwestern union family, Glen began his career with unions haphazardly after he lost his fourth factory job, all four due to the trend of factory shutdowns in the 1970s. Glen came to Las Vegas in 1989 to revitalize the then struggling Culinary Union branch. Though essential in making Las Vegas the tourist Mecca it is today, employees in the casinos of Vegas have a way of disappearing, surrounded by a diverse crowd and tacky oversized architecture that does a disservice to the locations it imitates. Local 226 gives its working class members power and a voice that corporate casinos on their own never would.

     Walking into Culinary Union Local 226, it was impossible to ignore the hundreds of photographs hanging on the walls. Every smiling face or angry protest sign reflected the excitement and power of the union and its members. Glen's enthusiasm as he discussed Local 226's was fantastic, even contagious. I loved the way he described in detail several strikes and the union members who'd been present, called casino bosses crazy, and casually discussed being arrested forty five times in one nine month strike period. Glen made it clear through his increasing use of profanity that he was passionate about his position in the union, and is doing his best to politicize service industry workers, helping them alter their working conditions.

     After our meeting with Glen, the group was scheduled to talk with Jan Jones, former mayor of Las Vegas, who now works for Harrah's Casinos International under CEO Gary Loveman. Unfortunately, in an act of solidarity with its Atlantic City counterpart, Local 226 of Las Vegas had caused enough disturbance at Harrah's to bring about a last minute rescheduling of our meeting, and send Loveman to Atlantic City to deal with the situation. Jones' secretary passed off the situation as a 'labor problem'. Days later we would meet with Hal Rothman, a UNLV historian. He would tell us that, without a doubt, Local 226 is the third most influential political body in Las Vegas, trailing only the democratic and republican parties. Geared toward political and social empowerment, 226 does little if anything to address environmental issues. Yet from an environmental perspective, the union's ability to confront corporations and counter major political parties is impressive. Sometimes it is overwhelming to consider environmentalism and the necessity to address corporate power. The union has taken this daunting task and made it seem simple. With marathon strikes lasting several years, corporate sit-ins and a basic accumulation of power through membership, Local 226 brings Las Vegas corporations to the fore.

     I found the union the singularly most attractive part of the City of Sin. It represents something tangible, it gives working class Las Vegans a voice and a future that casinos on their own would not. It challenges large corporations who often times go unchecked in the rest of the states and the rest of the world. But my fascination goes beyond what the union does, and I appreciate more specifically how the union does it. I will probably never become a union organizer, but the tactics and energy of Local 226 deserve admiration from any group who attempts to accomplish something that challenges the corporate norms of this country.