One last Mirage opening story. This one’s about the obstacles, challenges, and opportunities we faced with the Culinary Union.
· Most companies
· Think unions hurt
· Their ability to operate.
· Maybe they should consider
· A completely different approach.
When I got to Vegas, some in the company wanted to open without the Culinary Union. I learned in my college collective bargaining classes that there are self-interests on both sides of the negotiating table: we wanted a contract that didn’t restrict our legitimate operating interests or add to our operating expenses; the Union didn’t want to face the negative consequences of having The Mirage open non-union and emboldening other companies to try to operate without the Union. Barry Shier and I negotiated for the company, John Wilhelm, and D Taylor for the Union. Together we negotiated to scrap the old 126-page contract, develop a more streamlined one, restructure its 96 job classifications, and revise many unnecessary restrictions. And most importantly, we agreed to work in partnership to develop a new style of labor/management relations. We ended up with 36 job classifications, freedom to hire who we wanted, and an understanding that we’d work together to resolve any differences throughout the life of what became a 5-year agreement; they ended up with a card-check rather than an election, and a process where shop stewards would work more closely with company management. The result was closer labor management collaboration, unprecedented labor peace, and 12 years without a grievance or arbitration. Nobody rolled over on anything – we just worked together on everything. We viewed the challenges we faced as real opportunities to do something innovative and impactful. And everybody won. Whatever your challenges, don’t miss the chance to innovate and win big today.
Marijane Meaker (1927 – 2022): American writer who was credited with helping launch the lesbian pulp fiction genre, the only accessible novels on that theme in the 1950s.
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