May 14--The chief negotiator for 47,000 Las Vegas casino industry workers said Monday he is hopeful that a new contract can be reached with at least one gaming company before a June 1 strike deadline. 

Without an agreement, he noted, just one option remains. 

"If we don't have a deal with anyone by May 31, there will be a strike, but I'm hopeful we can get agreement with one or more of the major companies well in advance," said John Wilhelm, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. 

The union leader delivered his comments at the close of a daylong negotiating session that saw MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group present a joint contract offer to representatives of Culinary Local 226 and Bartender's Local 165. 

The Strip giants proposed a five-year deal that would see hourly wages and benefits increase by $2.78 per person over the life of the contracts, or about 56 cents an hour annually, sources said. 

Union negotiators are considering the offer. 

"It's a very rich proposal that is well-worth the consideration of the negotiating team and the membership," said MGM Mirage Senior Vice President Alan Feldman. 

Five-year Culinary and Bartender's contracts at 35 Las Vegas gaming properties are set to expire May 31. 

The unions are asking for a 65-cents-an-hour raise for each of their members in the first year of a two-year deal, sources said, with none of the money earmarked for pay raises. 

The bulk of the money would go to the unions' health and welfare fund, which pays workers' full health insurance premiums and is plagued by skyrocketing costs. 

Union negotiators are seeking a similar amount in the second year of an agreement, with the money split between wages, health insurance and job training programs. 

The unions' health insurance fund needs an infusion of money by June 1, or an estimated $70 million over the next year, to maintain the program's full benefits. 

An estimated 15,000 union members are scheduled to attend a Thursday strike authorization vote at the Thomas & Mack Center that would give union leaders the right to call a work stoppage. 

Las Vegas' last citywide gaming strike was in 1984 and lasted for 67 days. 

"It's important for us to stick together," said Las Vegas Club cocktail waitress Joan Cherkas, who supports the strike authorization push. "A strike would be bad for the city, and it would be tough for us; but our leadership knows what they're doing." 

The MGM-Mandalay contract proposal compares with a Saturday offer by Harrah's Entertainment that would provide an additional 68 1/2 cents an hour for each union member in the first year of a five-year deal, a source said. 

Terms of the remaining four years were not discussed by Harrah's negotiators, the source noted. 

Park Place Entertainment has offered a $1.05-an-hour increase over 2 1/2 years for each of the unions' members, or 50 cents an hour in the first year of a deal and 55 cents an hour in the remaining 18 months, a source said. 

Harrah's and Park Place have offered separate 3-cents-an-hour increases annually for each worker to help pay back money loaned to the unions' health insurance plan from their pension fund, sources said. 

Union leaders are considering both offers, but the Harrah's and Park Place proposals have angered at least one Strip competitor who argues that the companies are needlessly capitulating to union demands at a time when the city still is struggling to recover from the post-Sept. 11 travel decline to Las Vegas. 

"They're going to make a deal with whoever gives them the best deal, and right now there are people who are putting on the table what the union perceives to be a better deal," argues the executive. 

Mandalay Resort Group and the company's chief negotiator, Mike Sloan, have adopted the toughest position in talks by attempting to minimize proposed wage and benefit increases, sources said. 

Sloan declined to comment Monday, but union negotiator Wilhelm said he has been puzzled by the company's stance, especially after a May 3 incident at Mandalay Resort Group's Circus Circus Las Vegas, where three union activists were injured during a scuffle with security guards. 

Union leaders have asked that company executives apologize to the workers who were suspended, but Culinary officials say they have yet to hear back from the company. 

"I do not understand this. We've had a mutually positive relationship with that company for many years," Wilhelm said. "I do not understand what happened. What I don't understand in the wake of it is there's been no effort on the part of that company to redress the issue." 

-- Gaming Wire writer Jeff Simpson contributed to this report. 

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