The notable exception to the presidential procession was newly-minted frontrunner Vermont Sen. In a statement released after the picket, Station Casinos announced it would offer an “enhanced benefits package,” including a free health care plan to employees making less than $41,600 or $20 per hour, as part of its “Family Focused” initiative. The union says that Station Casino employees have voted in three National Labor Relations elections to join the union. Station Casinos is owned by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta - financial supporters of President Donald Trump and other Republican causes - and have long tangled with the state’s culinary workers union.
The Palms Casino Resort, owned by Station Casinos, has long rebuffed unionization and counterprogrammed Wednesday’s picketing with a marquee boasting messages such as “free healthcare for the whole family” and “company paid retirement plan.” In a sometimes-chaotic scene this morning, five of the seven leading Democratic presidential candidates joined a picket line of hundreds of members from a handful of Las Vegas casino worker unions hours before tonight’s Democratic presidential debate.
