July 21–Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel has agreed to pay two workers a total of $11,200 to avoid going to trial over a labor complaint, the Culinary Union announced today.
A complaint filed in March by the National Labor Relations Board alleged one employee at Trump International Hotel lost a job and another was not transferred to a full-time position because of their support for the union.
The complaint also alleged the hotel promised job opportunities to workers who ditched their support for the union.
Geoconda Arguello-Kline, the union's secretary-treasurer, said in a statement that employees at the Trump International are "treated unfairly" and paid less per hour than workers at nearby resorts.
"While we were eager to go to trial to prove that Donald Trump's hotel broke the law, this settlement is a great victory for his employees whom we contend suffered discrimination because of their union activity and support," Arguello-Kline said.
The trial would have been held before an administrative law judge of the labor board, according to the union.
Jill Martin, assistant general counsel with the Trump Organization, could not be immediately reached for comment. She previously called the allegations in the complaint "completely without merit."
The Culinary, which represents more than 57,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, says workers at the off-Strip Trump International have been trying to organize since 2014. Employees voted in favor of union representation in a December election, and a labor board official in March certified the Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 as the legal collective bargaining representative.
But Trump International, which was developed in partnership with Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin, has consistently challenged the results of the election, arguing it was not a fair process.
The union — in tandem with members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — demonstrated outside Trump International on Wednesday.
