Boulder Station goes union; Neon Museum sets records

Having finally bowed to management’s stipulation of a secret ballot election, as opposed to a card check, the Culinary Union can belatedly claim a victory in its long-running war with Station Casinos. Employees at Boulder Station, under the oversight of the National Labor Relations Board, have voted to unionize, 355 to 177. This isn’t the first Station casino to go union: Station-managed Graton Resort & Casino, in California, claims that honor. However, the tone for future negotiations was not promisingly set. The Culinary accused Station of scare tactics and the latter fired back at the union’s “corporate terrorism.” Said company President Richard Haskins, “We have been harassed and vilified for almost two decades because the Culinary Union refused to let our team members have a fair choice through a secret-ballot election process.” He, somewhat grudgingly, promised to sit down and talk with the union. As for the Culinary, it’s frittered away valuable years through its insistence on the card-check process. Considering that we elect our president via a secret ballot, choosing a union by the same process shouldn’t be an onerous burden.

The Culinary has not disclosed which Station casino is next on its wish list and UNLV gaming guru David G. Schwartz was quick to lower expectations in the wake of the vote. He told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the significance of the plebiscite was dependent “on how it plays out in terms of the contract and how long that takes.” Nothing has come easy for the Culinary in its struggle with Station. Why should the contract talks be any different (though we hope they will be)?

Station and Boyd Gaming will both get a little bigger on Sept. 22. That’s when the Nevada Gaming Commission is expected to approve their purchases of the Palms and Aliante Casino, respectively. Boyd is mum on its plans for Aliante but Station CFO Marc Falcone says “most” Palms employees will be kept on, and their current seniority, salaries and benefits will remain in place. That’s good to hear.

* Confronted with the impending opening of MGM National Harbor, main rival Maryland Live is fighting back with a $200 million hotel, with spa and convention center. (It also used the occasion to collect mad props for its local philanthropic deeds.) The projected opening is in the late winter of 2018. Interestingly, the planned hotel tower looks a lot like the one that was scrubbed from MGM Springfield. Once it is up and running, it is expected that Maryland Live will try to compete with MGM for players from the southern Virginia and the North Carolina markets. Gaming Atlantic President James Karmel estimates Cordish that “can peel of maybe 10%” of day trippers who would otherwise patronize MGM, once the expansion is complete. As for the event center that will be part of the buildout, Maryland Live already hosts eight local graduation ceremonies and the school district would like to expand upon that.

* Dec. 3 is the date certain for the opening of the Lucky Dragon hotel-casino. Though management isn’t saying so, this will give them almost a month to work out any kinks before the all-important New Year’s holiday. The opening will be marked with lion and dragon dances, and something called a “Kung Fu tea service.” (Do they pulverize the tea leaves with savage karate chops?) Gotta see what that’s about. Congratulations to Lucky Dragon, the little casino (300 slots, 37 tables) that could when the big boys couldn’t.

* Kudos to the Neon Museum, which continues to set new highs in attendance and revenue. It banked $2.5 million in fiscal 2016 and is expected to pass the 100,000 visitors per year mark in fiscal 2017. That’s pretty impressive for a tourist attraction that isn’t on the Las Vegas Strip and is downhill from Downtown. At S&G we’re ardent fans of the Neon Museum and have visited it several times. The only downside, as museum CEO Rob McCoy acknowledges, is there’s no place to put any more neon. Enlarging the footprint of the neon boneyard, if possible, should be a high civic priority. And, with no disrespect intended to the lovely La Concha Motel that serves as the visitor center but a museum devoted to Las Vegas‘ signature element ought to be one where the venerable signs can be sheltered from exposure to the elements. Then again, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the ghoulish gods-eye view of the Treasure Island skull that can be enjoyed via satellite photography but would be lost indoors. As things stand, a two-acre annex containing signs from (among others) the Pioneer Club, Lady Luck, the Golden Nugget and Binion’s will be opened soon. If you haven’t been to the Neon Museum yet, book a tour well in advance — they’re going faster than hotcakes.