UNITE HERE, the parent union of the Culinary Workers Union, which is the certified bargaining representative of workers at Trump Hotel Las Vegas, on Tuesday, called for a national boycott of all business with ties to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The Culinary Union’s parent company called for the boycott of business owned, invested in, or partnered with Trump, until such time as the Trump Hotel Las Vegas upholds its legal duty to bargain with the union, according to Culinary Workers Union Local 226 press release.
The #BoycottTrump campaign comes in the wake of the denial by federal officials of Trump Hotel Las Vegas’ objections to a union election in December 2015, which resulted in a majority of the hotel’s workers voting to join the Culinary Union. The latter is Nevada’s largest immigrant organization with over 57,000 members, including approximately 55 percent women and 56 percent Latino, and the largest affiliate of UNITE HERE.
Trump National Golf Course Los Angeles was recently picketed by union members, who chose to announce the boycott from the club’s restaurant. Further boycott events are planned by union locals for September 29 in San Francisco and Waikiki and in Chicago on October 1 and 18. More of the same is expected to follow in New York, Florida, and Virginia.
UNITE HERE President D. Taylor, said, “While Donald Trump waged an indefensible anti-worker and anti-immigrant presidential campaign, the workers at his Las Vegas hotel fought for dignity and respect in their workplace. They voted to unionize, they won, and now the law says Trump must negotiate,” according to the news release.
The Culinary Union goes on to claim that a hostile anti-union campaign was waged by Trump Hotel Las Vegas management, with hotel management hiring anti-union labor consultants and paying them more than $500,000. The alleged offenses include interrogations and threats against union supporters, as well as employees being suspended for union activities. Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union, said, “After a disgraceful anti-union campaign against their own workers, the hotel still refuses to negotiate with their employees,” and, “We call on allies and workers to stand in solidarity in a national boycott until Donald Trump, the ‘Great Negotiator,’ comes to the table.”
In addition to Trump Hotel Las Vegas, all 10 of Station Casinos‘ Clark County properties, along with the?Aliante, which Boyd Gaming completed its acquisition of yesterday, and ?the Palms Casino Resort, are in active labor disputes and are included on the Culinary Union’s do not patronize list.
Meanwhile, on September 10, Carl Icahn’s management team filed a formal petition with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement requesting permission to close the Trump Taj Mahal in October.
The AFL-CIO will support the boycott according to a Culinary Workers Union spokeswoman, bringing to bear the potential of 12 million U.S. workers in 56 unions.