Democrats, Culinary call on Station Casinos to heed Supreme Court ruling, negotiate a contract

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in September denied an emergency petition filed by Red Rock Casino to stay a lower court’s decision that affirmed the company must bargain with the Culinary Union. 

Nearly two months later, Culinary workers, flanked by Democratic officials, called on Red Rock Casino to come to the table to negotiate a contract.

“It’s time for Station Casinos to join with their workers and their union representation, to come together and negotiate a fair contract,” Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union, said at a press conference Tuesday, referring to the company that owns Red Rock Casino.

All three state congressional Democrats and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, joined Culinary workers Tuesday touting union support, arguing for more labor protections at the federal level, and echoing calls for Red Rock to negotiate a fair contract with workers after years of fighting. 

Less than a week away from Election Day, Ford touted his record fighting for collective bargaining rights as a state senator and attorney general, and told union members that he will “always have your backs on the picket line, in the courtroom, and at the bargaining table.”

“We’re certainly going to hold you to that,” Pappageorge replied, adding “I know you’ll be there for us as you always have been.”

The Culinary Union has been fighting with Stations Casinos for decades to allow members to collectively bargain at their properties. 

The National Labor Relations Board found in 2024 that Red Rock had violated national labor laws during the union’s 2019 efforts to negotiate collective bargaining agreements. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the findings of the NLRB in June of this year.

Red Rock filed an emergency application asking the Supreme Court to stay the D.C. Circuit’s decision. Red Rock’s request was denied in September.

The long-time back and forth resulted in “nearly seven years of delays in appeals of a company spending on lawyers instead of the people who make that casino run,” Ford said. 

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, Pappageorge said “it’s time to lay down the sword and pick up the pen.” 

Following the ruling, Station Casinos said the company will comply with the court order but still objected to the NBLR, a spokesperson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in September. 

The order also mandate Red Rock Casino, Boulder Station, and Palace Station to display notices from NLRB acknowledging the company violated labor rights and attesting that it will not “threaten you with job loss as a result of a strike if you select union representation” or “threaten you that selecting a union representative would be futile.”

The casinos have not posted those notices yet according to the Culinary Union.