The Las Vegas-based Teamsters Local 986 on Monday issued a statement in support of warehouse employees of Three Corners LLC, which owns three Downtown Las Vegas hotels.
Local 986 noted last week a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sided with seven Three Corners LLC employees, initially ruling the company violated the workers’ rights in February, when it fired them for seeking representation with the union.
As part of the decision to pursue an Unfair Labor Practice Complaint against Three Corners, NLRB Region 28 determined the Three Corners workers, whose employer owns three downtown Las Vegas hotels that they stocked with food, beverages and other goods, were entitled to back pay as well as getting their jobs back and that the NLRB would seek this relief for the employees.
The NLRB also determined that an agreement signed with QLI International to provide contract workers to fill the seven workers’ positions was illegal.
The workers, known as the “Circa Seven” after the largest of the hotels that employed them – the Circa Hotel and Casino – formed a picket line for four days in March to protest the actions of Three Corners and its owner, Derek Stevens. They also handbilled around Downtown Las Vegas to raise attention to the company’s actions during the coronavirus pandemic.
The other hotels owned by the company are the D Hotel and Casino and the Golden Gate.
“This NLRB decision is a hard-earned win for these workers,” Local 986 secretary-treasurer Chris Griswold said in a statement. “They were put through the wringer only for seeking their protected right of wanting to join a union. We are glad to see that they will be made whole as part of this ruling.”
Three Corners worker Paul Madrid added, “It has been a long time coming, but my co-workers and I have been vindicated with this decision rendered by the National Labor Relations Board.Our fight and our story in the height of global pandemic is living proof that we need to pass the PRO Act to protect workers who want to organize and improve their working conditions without fear of retaliation from their employer. The leadership demonstrated by the Teamsters in this fight was amazing and very organized. Local 986 always kept us in the loop and had our best interest in mind.”
Chartered in 1948, Teamsters Local 986 represents workers in a wide variety of industries throughout the Western United States, including thousands of members in Las Vegas.
