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MORE Union pickets stall work on Regal Cinema for third time Pickets results in second Reno Regal Cinema construction shutdown |
8-16-2009 — Teamsters strike Granite Construction in California and Nevada
PICKETS RESULT IN SECOND RENO REGAL CINEMA CONSTRUCTION SHUTDOWN
[EDITOR'S NOTE (7-1-2007): Several links to Reno Gazette-Journal stories, below, have become stale as Gannett has begun nuking its subsidiary newspapers' archives as a way to save disk server space — which should erode their web traffic and thus negatively affect profitability. And all this time I thought all they cared about was money.]
UPDATE, October 13th, 1999:
Union
pickets stall work on Regal Cinema for third time
by Robert Anglen, Reno Gazette-Journal
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WHAT IF THEY GAVE A MOVIE AND NOBODY CAME? - Lonely picketers gather for a group photo in order to fight boredom at the empty Regal Cinemas construction site on the banks of the Truckee River in downtown Reno. The partially-obscured Ledcor Industries sign to the left reads "construction in progress." That's OK. Movies are notorious for misleading advertising. |
Workers take long weekend for second time in two weeks
Project violated Nevada law by
paying illegally low wages
Regal Cited by Indiana for Child Labor
Violations
Project violated Nevada law by paying illegally low wages
Reno, NV (August 13)- Union pickets went up early Friday morning and resulted in the shutdown of construction on the downtown Reno Regal Cinema. Some of the non-union workers on the job honored the pickets and left the site adjoining the Truckee River.
Members of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsworkers Local 1 picketed the arrival of Koffler Masonry with signs reading "Koffler Masonry does not provide wages, benefits and conditions standard in our area."
Friday's action represented the second work stoppage in two weeks on the centerpiece of the city's redevelopment project. On Thursday, August 5, members of Painters and Allied Trades Local 567 demonstrated with signs reading "Dynamic Painters, Inc., does not provide wages, benefits and conditions standard in our area." Like last Friday, the job was shut down when almost all workers refused to cross.
The Regal Cinema site has recently been the scene of other conflicts with construction unions. The theater's topping off ceremony was unceremoniously canceled by management on June 18 when Ledcor Industries, Inc., the Canadian construction company in charge of the project, refused to let members of Iron Workers Local 118 place the traditional American flag, Christmas tree and union banner atop the structure. (Reno Gazette-Journal, 6-19-99)
The Regal Cinema project has been heavily subsidized by millions of dollars in property taxes from the City of Reno. The large amounts of local tax money given to private corporations has caused local unions to raise questions over wages and benefits paid to both union and non-union workers.
The project was recently found in violation of Nevada law by paying illegally low wages to some workers. The City of Reno acted immediately to rectify the situation (letter from Deputy City Attorney Michael K. Halley to DDR Oliver McMillan, 9 June 1999).
Ledcor Industries, Inc., acquired the workers through a temporary help service. The differences in pay were made up according to law.
The Regal Cinema's problems with more than 40,000 northern Nevada union members, retirees and their families will probably not end soon. Regal remains on the national AFL-CIO boycott list, where it has been for almost two years.
"The AFL-CIO added the huge Regal Cinemas movie-theater chain to its 'Do Not Buy' list as part of the campaign to counter Regal's attack on the jobs of its union-represented projectionists," according to a statement from the AFL-CIO's website."
"The boycott...was launched by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees & Moving Picture Technicians, Art and Allied Crafts (IATSE), in the face of Regal's terminating 13 IATSE-represented projectionists in Fort Wayne, Ind., 14 in Akron, Ohio, and 12 in Richmond, Va."
"'In addition,' said IATSE President Thomas C. Short, 'Regal forced projectionists in Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio, to accept pay cuts and work-hour reductions so severe that they will result in half the jobs being eliminated in those two cities.'"
The company is seeking "systematically...to replace family-wage jobs that have provided health and retirement benefits with part-time, low-wage positions offering neither fringe benefits nor job security," Short said.
"The boycott was launched by IATSE with rallies, informational picket lines and press conferences in more than a dozen cities from coast to coast. In Washington, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney joined IATSE President Short in a press conference. At a November 1997 press conference in Chicago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson pledged both his personal support and that of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, which he heads. Several charges with the NLRB are pending.
Regal Cited by U.S. for Firings, by Indiana for Child Labor Violations
"The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is issuing complaints against Regal Cinemas in Richmond, Va., and Fort Wayne, Ind., on charges that management's violated federal law by refusing to bargain in good faith on their dismissals of union-represented projectionists.
"In Richmond, the NLRB also alleges, the firings were in retaliation for the employees' pro-union activities and to discourage others from supporting the union.
"The charges were filed by the fired employees' union, IATSE.
"In addition, the Indiana Department of Labor has cited Regal in Fort Wayne for violating child labor laws at two of its theaters there. At each theater, it was "the third instance...similar violations have been found" the agency said.
"The violations involved working the young people---14 16-year-olds and 12 17-year-olds---too many hours and too late."
NORTHERN NEVADA UNIONS STEP-UP ORGANIZING ACTIVITY
Northern Nevada construction unions have recently experienced a flurry of interest by potential new members and, as a result, have stepped up public information and organizing activities. Painters & Allied Trades Local 567, which has recently seen membership increase by more than 25 percent, picketed the Atlantis Casino Resort several times earlier this year because of the hiring of a non-union subcontractor. (Reno Gazette-Journal, Jan. 16 & Jan. 21, 1999)
Protesting potentially substandard wages and benefits has become routine for northern Nevada unions. Members of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada demonstrated for months during the construction of the Syufy Century theaters in downtown Sparks.
Park Lane Mall ownership recently lost a legal battle to Carpenters Union Local 971 over the improper 1997 trespassing arrest of business representative Herb Friedenthal for distributing handbills about Syufy's Park Lane construction. (Story and photo of the arrest are accessible at U-News.
Reno Municipal Judge James Van Winkle ruled that he had no jurisdiction over the trespassing charges. The National Labor Relations Board held that Park Lane violated federal labor law in the incident. The NLRB ordered Macerich Property Management Co. to post signs admitting guilt, to have trespassing charges dropped, to reimburse Friedenthal for $5,600 in legal expenses and have the arrest record expunged. (NLRB Case 32-CA-16491, 4-13-99)
OTHER SITES SEE RENO-SPARKS UNION PROTEST AND ACTIVITY THIS YEAR
Granite Construction, Sparks. Members of Ironworkers Local 118 picketed company headquarters on Glendale Road as the huge union-signatory construction firm built an expansion with non-union labor.
8-16-2009 — Teamsters strike Granite Construction in California and Nevada
Jensen Precast, Sparks. Strikers from the company's Las Vegas operation picketed in July. The Carpenters Union is trying to organize the workers in both northern and southern Nevada and in California. (See U-News; also Daily Sparks Tribune, page one, 7-2-99.)
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INFORMING UNION MEMBERS - Representatives of Laborer's Union Local 169 pose with informational pickets in front of Baldini's Sports Casino in Sparks. Left to right are Steve Keeble, Pat Sanderson, Richard "Skip" Daly and Dan Rusnak. |
Baldini's Casino, Sparks. The affiliated unions of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada have been conducting informational picketing at selected times. The unions are informing their members about Baldini's and asking them not to patronize the popular Sparks club. Located near many construction companies and union halls, Baldini's has enjoyed a large union clientele for many years.
Picket signs have read "Baldini's unfair to union workers" and "construction workers deserve better wages and conditions." Building and Construction Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer Richard Houts stated "we are always concerned about anything which may impact the standard of living for both union and non-union employees. If some work without health insurance, the taxpayers often get stuck with the bill," Houts stated. (See Houts letter to the editor, Reno Gazette-Journal, 7-30-99)
Silver Legacy Resort Casino, Reno. Unions picketed the construction of the hotel's huge "tin shed" convention center built at the corner of Fourth and Center streets in downtown Reno. (Reno News & Review, 1-28-99)
Northern Nevada unions have recently rung up broadly based organizing victories. The two Hilton Reno hotels have recognized Culinary Local 86 as bargaining agent for their non-gaming employees.
Several area unions and labor councils recently relocated to 1819 Hymer Avenue in Sparks, establishing the Northern Nevada Labor Temple. The newly remodeled building is located directly behind Granite Construction.
LAS VEGAS STRIKERS BEGIN DEMONSTRATIONS AT SPARKS COMPANY
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LONG DISTANCE DEDICATION - Striking workers from Jensen Precast in Las Vegas drove the long journey north several times in July in order to call on the company's Sparks location. Jensen makes precast concrete items such as manholes, utility vaults, storm drain, meter and valve boxes. Employees perform hard, dangerous work for very low pay and have decided to act collectively by forming a union to win a fair deal from their employers for themselves and their families. |
Sparks (July 1, 1999) — The Rail City is looking more and more like the union town of its founding almost a century ago. About two dozen demonstrators alternated pro-union cheers in English and Spanish at the main gate of Jensen Precast at 625 Bergin Way on Thursday. Sparks police left after observing only peaceful activities in the morning.
Jensen makes precast concrete products such as meter and valve boxes, utility vaults, sewer and storm manholes. Most of the demonstrators are on strike from Jensen's Las Vegas plant. The workers say that Jensen facilities in Sparks, Sacramento, and Fontana in southern California are sending finished materials to Las Vegas to lessen the effects of the walkout. The Las Vegans talk with their Sparks counterparts before and after their shifts. The workers plan further activity on Friday and in the future as part of the union's companywide drive to organize Jensen.
The Las Vegas workers went on strike four weeks ago over alleged unfair labor practices. Charges have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
The strikers say they are especially rankled at Jensen's willingness to pay a Las Vegas temporary help service $14 per hour for replacements of employees making about half that. According to the strikers, about 50 workers walked off the job in Las Vegas. The union is trying to organize a similar number at the Sparks facility.
The work is very physically demanding and can be dangerous. The Jensen employees want to organize into a union in order to negotiate as a group for better wages, working conditions and benefits such as improved health insurance for their families.
The Jensen Precast demonstrations are part of escalating union organizing activities in Sparks and throughout the region. The affiliated unions of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada have been conducting informational picketing at Baldini's Casino in Sparks every Friday afternoon for the past several months. The trade unions have been informing their members about Baldini's and asking them not to patronize the popular Sparks club. Located near many construction companies and union halls, Baldini's has enjoyed a large union clientele for many years.
Operating Engineers Local 3, which represents Sparks city employees, is hosting a rally for Washoe Medical Center workers on July 10 as part of its annual picnic at Sparks' Deer Park at Rock Blvd. and Prater Way. The National Labor Relations Board has scheduled an election for July 14-16 for Washoe Med nursing staff. Washoe Medical Center is northern Nevada's largest hospital. Local 3 has also been approached by employees at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno and an organizing drive is in progress there. The union won an election to represent nurses at Elko General Hospital earlier this year.
Members of Ironworkers Local 118 have recently picketed the headquarters of Granite Construction on Glendale Road in Sparks. The huge union-signatory construction company has been building an expansion with non-union labor.
Several area unions and labor councils recently relocated to 1819 Hymer Avenue in Sparks, establishing the Northern Nevada Labor Temple. The newly remodeled building is located directly behind Granite Construction.
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