John Wilhelm was dispatched to Las Vegas in 1987 to salvage a casino workers union rattled by devastating losses.
The Culinary Union was debilitated by a citywide strike three years earlier that sapped resources and morale. Six hotels persuaded employees to decertify the union, and four others illegally reneged on the Culinary contract. The union’s health care plan was tanking.
Wilhelm, a Yale graduate who cut his teeth organizing the university’s clerical and blue-collar workers, came to Las Vegas as the Western regional director for the Culinary parent, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.
And in 1989, he moved the Strip’s labor relations into a new chapter.
He negotiated a landmark deal, allowing casino owner Steve Wynn to simplify job classifications in exchange for organizing rights at the Mirage — and at future Wynn casinos. The victory for labor: Rather than having to hold elections to organize — a process that allowed management the upper hand over organizers — workers were able to organize simply by signing union cards. Before long, operators up and down the Strip fell in line.
Almost overnight, the so-called card-check agreement — and a couple of strategic strikes — transformed the Culinary from a dying union into the largest, fastest-growing private-sector local in America.
