A Union Folds: Vegas Workers Lose Jobs Over A Petty Dispute.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(BRAIN TRUST)

Byline: KERRI HOUSTON

In the dark days after the attack on America, the weekend came to Las Vegas, but the tourists didn't.

Occupancy rates in area hotels dropped as low as 20%, leaving resort operators with crippling revenue shortfalls.

In response, hospitality industry executives and managers had to consider making cuts in their work force.

Hoping to avert massive layoffs, hotel owners reached out to the Las Vegas Culinary Union 226 and requested flexibility with scheduling the union's 25,000 local members. Resort owners wanted to be able to reduce workers' hours and make day-by-day determinations of whether to end shifts early in the absence of business.

Although they knew that this technically violated union contracts, the owners also knew that elasticity of work hours and shift patterns was the only way to avoid deep job cuts. The union, whose ostensible purpose is to protect the job security of its members, basically told the operators to take a hike.

Within a few days 15,000 workers -- nearly 25% of Culinary 226's 50,000 rank and file members -- lost their jobs.