Marathon Pundit: Killing the Golden Nugget goose? Big Labor threatens Vegas-wide strike

Golden Nugget, downtown Las Vegas

Could Big Labor really disrupt dozens of conventions and thousands of vacations in Las Vegas.

That could be their plan, as the Workforce Fairness Institute's Fred Wszolek informs us in the Daily Caller.

On the heels of the city of Detroit filing for bankruptcy, the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, Big Labor apparently has not learned its lesson. Union bosses played a pivotal role in Detroit's demise making unreasonable salary and benefit demands that contributed to nearly $15 billion in unfunded liabilities.

One would think labor bosses would have used the experience to guide their thinking on how they deal with issues related to workers and the economy, but nothing could be further from the truth. Unsatisfied with having taken down the Motor City, once the fourth-largest in the country, union bosses have set their sights on Las Vegas.

Recently, Big Labor bosses in Vegas have made threats that unless they get their way on contract negotiations they will seek a city-wide strike. The Associated Press reported, "The Culinary Union has issued a written warning to Wall Street investors, saying a citywide strike by Las Vegas hotel workers is possible if contracts aren't inked soon with two major companies. The union, which represents some 50,000 bartenders, maids and food servers, has been in negotiations with gambling giants MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp. It says union workers are preparing for a 'major labor dispute,' and a strike is imminent unless solid contracts result soon from the negotiations."

More threats, more economic uncertainty, and more demands for payback from union bosses at the expense of workers and business owners. In the last several years, Las Vegas and indeed Nevada have suffered mightily under the slow and stagnant economy. Nevada continues to have a staggeringly high unemployment rate with nearly 10 percent of people out of work. In addition, the state continues to have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

Also, the site of the old Stardust Hotel on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip is a construction site that was stalled over five years ago.

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