Vegas at Odds Kraft, James P. Published by Johns Hopkins University Press Kraft, James P. Vegas at Odds: Labor Conflict in a Leisure Economy, 1960–1985. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010. Project MUSE. doi:10.1353/book.3451. https://muse.jhu.edu/. For additional information about this book https://muse.jhu.edu/book/3451 [ Access provided at 25 Sep 2021 14:41 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Vegas at Odds studies in industry and society Philip B. Scranton, Series Editor Published with the assistance of the Hagley Museum and Library Vegas at Odds Labor Confl ict in a Leisure Economy, 1960– 1985 JAMES P. KRAFT The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2010 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2010 Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Mary land 21218- 4363 www .press .jhu .edu Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Kraft, James P. Vegas at odds : labor confl ict in a leisure economy, 1960– 1985 / James P. Kraft. p. cm.—(Studies in industry and society) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 8018- 9357- 5 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN- 10: 0- 8018- 9357- 7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Labor movement— Nevada—Las Vegas— History—20th century. 2. Labor— Nevada—Las Vegas— History—20th century. 3. Las Vegas (Nev.)— Economic conditions— 20th century. I. Title. HD8085.L373K73 2009 331.7'6179509793135—dc22 2009007043 A cata log record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410- 516- 6936 or [email protected]. The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post- consumer waste, whenever possible. All of our book papers are acid- free, and our jackets and covers are printed on paper with recycled content. To Renée This page intentionally left blank Contents A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s i x Introduction 1 1 The Rise of Corporate Resorts 9 2 Working in Las Vegas 33 3 The First Work Stoppages 53 4 The Struggle for the Casinos 73 5 Workplace Incidents 96 6 Fighting for Equal Rights 117 7 The Spirit of ’76 139 8 Management Digs In, 1982– 1984 159 9 The Strike of 1984– 1985 180 Afterword 200 Notes 209 Essay on Sources 257 Index 265 Illustrations follow page 72 This page intentionally left blank A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s Many generous and thoughtful people contributed to this study, the results of which loom large in the fi nished product. Philip Scranton expressed an early interest in the study at a meeting of the Business History Association in Glas- gow, Scotland, and ten years later supported its publication at Johns Hopkins University Press. In the intervening years, I discussed the project often with Edwin J. Perkins, my mentor at the University of Southern California, and ben- efi ted im mensely from his advice. I also benefi ted from the frequent counsel of two former colleagues at the University of Hawaii, Idus Newby and Robert Locke, who read multiple drafts of the study and made me aware of many sentences and paragraphs that needed rethinking and rewriting. Mansel Blackford, a former colleague at the Ohio State University, also critiqued a draft of the work in ways that sharpened my focus. Margot Henriksen and Timothy Minchin read multi- ple chapters of the work to my advantage, and Howell John Harris, Hal Roth- man, Louise McReynolds, Peter Hoff enberg, Christopher Yeh, and Chris Boh- ner off ered useful comments on more specifi c parts. Union offi cers and resort managers helped me address specifi c questions and issues. I off er special thanks to Thom Pastor of the Las Vegas Musicians Union, who introduced me to many of the city’s former labor leaders. Interviews with Mark Massagli, Walt Elliot, Claude “Blackie” Evans, Dick Thomas, Dennis Kist, Jeff McColl, Alan Ware, Terry Greenwald, Mike Werner, Sam Savali, and Jim Bonaventure proved invaluable. So did conversations with Jim Arnold, Dee Tay- lor, Courtney Alexander, Julie Perlman, Mike Magnani, Cheryl Thomas, Mike Russell, Rob Rovere, Max Price, Leslie Curtis, Robert Trombetta, and other union offi cials. Resort managers who helped with the study include Bill Cham- pion, Bill Davis, Bill Moore, Dan Riechart, Marilyn Seay, Nancy Macaulay, Ginny Murphy, and Elaine Tackley. Attorneys who represented either unions or resorts during the period under study were also helpful, especially Dennis Sabbath, Gary Moss, and Kevin Efroymson. x a c k n o w l e d g m e n t s Archivists and librarians helped me greatly as well. At the Department of Special Collections in the Lied Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I benefi ted from the assistance of Joyce Marshall- Moore, Sue Kim Chung, Claytee White, Peter Michel, David Swartz, Jonnie Kennedy, and Kathy War. At the Ne- vada State Library and Archives in Carson City, Joyce Cox, Jeff rey Kintop, Christo- pher Driggs, Guy Louis Rocha, Susan Searcy, and C. Mitch Ison were especially generous with their time. Eric Moody, Marta Gonzalez- Collins, Michael Mahar, and Mella Rothwell Harmon at the Nevada Historical Society in nearby Reno were also helpful, as was Mary Larson of the University of Nevada Reno, Oral History Program. Other individuals pointed me to additional sources. I am especially grateful to the legal team of Greg Smith and Malani Kotchaka, and to their professional staff of Patricia Affl eck, Thomas Blankenship, Rosalie Garcia, Nancy Pirie, Rose Marie Reynolds, Sandra Thompson, and James Whitmire. I also wish to thank Cathlyn Baird of the Conrad Hilton Archives in Houston, Texas; Nathan Albright and Michael Chavez of the National Labor Relations Board in Las Vegas; George Knapp at KLAS TV in Las Vegas; Vince Eade at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and Joyce McNeill of the Nevada Resort Association. Still others helped me fi nd sources at the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C., and at the National Archives in College Park, Mary land, including Traci Wits, Sarah Didiwick, Debbie Lopes, Richard Peuser, and Janis Wiggins. For help in collect- ing photographs, I am grateful to Rebecca Cliff ord- Cruz and Joan Whitely at the Las Vegas Sun and Padmini Pai, Pamela Busse, and Bob Katelle at the Las Vegas Review- Journal. I would also like to thank Dave Millman of the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, and Karen Siveroli of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. My debts and obligations are greater than these ac know ledg ments indicate. To complete this project, I received fi nancial assistance from the University of Hawaii as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities. I also received expert advice from Robert J. Brugger’s superb editorial team at the Johns Hop- kins University Press. On a more personal level, I benefi ted from the camarade- rie of many colleagues, friends, and family members. I extend a special aloha and mahalo to Robb Navrides, Rocky Jackson, Harold McCarthur, Susan Reid, Arthur Verge, Patrick Patterson, Karen Mead, Jennifer Isernhagen, Robert, Cinda, and Kathryn Kraft, and my parents Marion and Hubert Kraft. I have dedicated this book to the most important person in my life, my wife Renée Arnold, whom I had the good fortune of meeting twenty years ago. How time fl ies! Vegas at Odds This page intentionally left blank Introduction It is a striking city, especially at night. Glitzy neon signs light up the Strip, hawk- ing everything from Hollywood headliners to the “best steaks in town.” Posh hotels and casinos spread ancient pyramids, medieval castles, and other improb- abilities across the landscape. Pagan statues line the entrances to Caesars Palace, swashbuckling pirates dangle from a frigate at Trea sure Island, a mammoth lion guards the MGM Grand. Each new mega- resort dazzles more brightly than the last. At the $1.5 billion Venetian, guests ride gondolas along imagined eighteenth- century Italian canals; at the Paris, they climb the Eiff el Tower; at the Mandalay Bay, they surf the beach or enjoy a fi ne vintage fetched by a “wine angel” from a four- story wine rack. The recently renovated downtown is equally impressive. There, casinos and hotels have attracted tourists since the 1930s, when the Golden Nail opened at Fremont and Main Streets. The Golden Nail is still there, dwarfed by behemoths with names like the Golden Nugget and the Union Plaza. The older heart of the city is now a veritable amusement park, its main thoroughfare, Fremont Street, closed to vehicular traffi c since imaginative civic leaders erected a “space frame” above it to protect tourists from desert sun by day and to enthrall them with high- tech light displays by night. The area resembles old Coney Island more than the center of a modern metropolis, especially on weekends and holidays, when musical groups, mimes, and others perform on the sidewalks. Swank resorts and carnival glitz have made Las Vegas a world- class tourist destination. Travelers fl ock not just to gamble but to experience a unique mix- ture of gaming, entertainment, and other forms of self- indulgence that divert 2 vegas at odds them from the cares or routines of everyday life. At the beginning of the new millennium, more than thirty- three million people visited the city annually, spending perhaps $7 billion gambling and fi ve times that amount on other forms of diversion and entertainment.