A three-member National Labor Relations Board panel has ruled that Red Rock’s and Station Casinos’ anti-union tactics in 2019 were illegal. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

A three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that management of Red Rock Casino and its parent Station Casinos intentionally planned “extensive coercive and unlawful misconduct” from September 2019 to June 2020 in an effort to undermine the Culinary and Bartenders Unions. On Monday, the NLRB ordered Stations’ Red Rock Casino Resort Spa to engage in proper bargaining with the unions.

In validating a 2022 ruling, the NLRB pulled no punches, adding that Red Rock Casino and Station management engaged in “carefully crafted corporate strategy” in their attempts to harm the union.

threatened to yank the benefits back if workers voted to unionize

The case goes back nearly five years, in the weeks heading into the December 17, 2019 union election. During that time, Station introduced enhanced benefits for casino employees like better 401(k) plans and free family healthcare. That sounds fantastic, of course, but the goal wasn’t to help workers, but rather to make the union look worse. Red Rock then threatened to yank the benefits back if workers voted to unionize, something that the NLRB determined broke the law.

“This decision affirms what we have been saying for years—that Station Casinos violated the law and the company must bargain with the union because of its unlawful actions that corrupted the prospect for a free and fair union election,” said Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge. “Station Casinos needs to stop breaking the law and treat its workers with respect.”

Station Casinos said will likely appeal the NLRB panel’s decision and that it believes that the 2019 election rejecting the Culinary Union was a “fair outcome.”