Guide to the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs This finding aid was created by Hannah Robinson and Kayla McDuffie. This copy was published on September 11, 2020. Persistent URL for this finding aid: http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f16g7f © 2020 The Regents of the University of Nevada. All rights reserved. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. Box 457010 4505 S. Maryland Parkway Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-7010 [email protected] Guide to the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs Table of Contents Summary Information ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Historical Note ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Scope and Contents Note ................................................................................................................................ 6 Arrangement Note ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................. 7 Names and Subjects ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Collection Inventory ........................................................................................................................................ 8 Demonstrations .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Frontier Strike ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Other Demonstrations and Strikes ........................................................................................................... 23 Public events ............................................................................................................................................... 42 Internal: Work activities ............................................................................................................................. 45 Internal: Social events ................................................................................................................................ 60 Glass slides ................................................................................................................................................. 69 - Page 2 - Guide to the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs Summary Information Repository: University of Nevada, Las Vegas. University Libraries. Special Collections and Archives. Creator: Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Title: Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs ID: PH-00382 Date [inclusive]: 1950s-2006 Date [bulk]: 1990s Physical Description: 39.3 Linear Feet (38 boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 oversize folder) Language of the English Material: Abstract: The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs document various activities of the Culinary Union, from the 1950s to 2006, with the bulk of the material documenting the 1990s. Prominently featured in the collection are various strikes, pickets, marches, parades, rallies, and demonstrations from the late 1980s to early 2000s. A large portion of these photographs documents the Frontier Strike of the 1990s. Also included are photographs of press conferences, political rallies, internal committee meetings, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (H.E.R.E.) conventions, and various social events. Materials contain photographic prints, photographic negatives, and a small number of slides. Preferred Citation Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs, 1950s-2006. PH-00382. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. ^ Return to Table of Contents Historical Note The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, the largest local union of UNITE HERE (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees), is located in Las Vegas, Nevada and represents over 55,000 hotel, food service, and hospitality workers in Southern Nevada. The Culinary Union, in Las Vegas, was founded in 1938 soon after the passage of the federal National Labor Relations Act. In 1954, union members elected Al Bramlet as Secretary-Treasurer in Las Vegas, and under his leadership the union grew from 1,000 members to 16,000 members by the time - Page 3- Guide to the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs of his death in 1977. Bramlet actively recruited African American workers from Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, diversifying both the Culinary Union and the work force of Nevada's hospitality industry. The Culinary Union and the casinos of Las Vegas had a symbiotic relationship under Bramlet's leadership. In 1967 and 1969, Nevada legislature passed two corporate gaming acts that allowed public corporations to own and operate casinos. These laws changed not only the gaming industry but the labor union strategies and relationships between workers and casino management. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Culinary Union adapted to the new corporate ownership of Las Vegas casinos. The Culinary Union exercised their right to strike in 1976, joining the Bartenders and Musicians Unions in a seventeen-day strike against fifteen hotels that refused to sign new union contracts. This economically devastating and violent strike ended in compromise with new contracts for Culinary Union workers. The conflicted relationship between the Culinary Union and casinos resulted in another strike in 1984. The Culinary Union walked out against multiple Nevada Resort Association (NRA) properties in a strike that lasted two months. Police arrested over 900 strikers over the course of the strike and six hotels refused to sign contracts. After the unsuccessful 1984 strike the Culinary Union reorganized and elected new leadership. The union organization shifted from top-down to rank-and-file leadership, greatly democratizing the union of nearly 18,000 workers. Union members elected Jim Arnold as Secretary-Treasurer in 1987. Arnold, along with union President Hattie Canty, successfully negotiated numerous bargaining agreements with Las Vegas Strip and Downtown hotels and casinos in the late 1980s and 1990s. In 1991, Culinary Union members began a strike on the Frontier Hotel after the owners removed significant benefits from worker contracts. The Frontier Strike became one of the longest lasting strikes in United States history, ending in 1998 after the Elardi family sold the Frontier Hotel to Phil Ruffin, who quickly signed a union contract. In recent years, the Culinary Union focused on building relationships and contracts that mutually benefitted both worker and corporation. The Culinary Union also established a Culinary Training Center, the Citizenship Project, and the Housing Trust Fund. These projects help workers learn new skills, gain U.S. citizenship, and purchase homes. The Culinary Union's endorsement of political candidates is also significant. In 2008, Las Vegas hosted the 2008 Democratic Caucus, where the Culinary Union, on behalf of UNITE HERE, became the first major union to endorse eventual President Barack Obama. As of 2014, union membership reached 55,000 members. Kraft, James P. Vegas at Odds: Labor Conflict in a Leisure Economy, 1960-1985. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. Chronology 1938 Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is founded. 1954 Culinary Union members elect Al Bramlet as the Secretary-Treasurer. 1965 Nevada Civil Rights Act is passed. Nevada Resort Association (NRA) is established. 1967, 1969 Nevada Corporate Gaming Acts are passed. 1971 NRA, multiple hotels, and the Culinary Union voluntarily agree to sign a consent decree that - Page 4- Guide to the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Las Vegas, Nevada Photographs orders all resort industry employers to hire African Americans for 12% of all hotel casino jobs. 1976, March Culinary Union joins the Musicians, Stagehands, and Bartenders unions in a strike against fifteen hotels. After seventeen days, an agreement is reached which ends the economically devastating 1976 strike. 1984 Casino owners refuse the Culinary Union's request for a new health insurance plan and nearly 18,000 workers walk out of hotels and casinos across the city. Police arrest over 900 strikers over the course of the strike. The 1984 strike lasts two months, and ends with six casinos refusing to sign union contracts. 1987 Culinary Union members elect Jim Arnold as the Secretary-Treasurer. 1989 Steve Wynn's Mirage opens with a union contract. The mega-casino needs thousands of workers and the union adapts to the change by expanding membership recruitment internationally. 1990 • Culinary Union members elect Hattie Canty as the first female African-American President of the Culinary Union. She is instrumental in negotiating for the Culinary Training Center. • Culinary and Bartenders unions successfully strike against Binion's Horseshoe Casino. 1991 Culinary Union members walk out of the Frontier Hotel and start a strike after