I have to preface this column with a background story. During the 2007 legislative session in Nevada, I was approached by a group of card dealers who worked in the casino at the Wynn Las Vegas. They had written to nearly every single member of the Nevada legislature trying to get one of the Assemblymen or Senators to even listen to them about their employer confiscating a portion of their wages.
Steve Wynn is the owner of this casino. For decades he has built up a network of politicians who owe him favors. One is Bill Raggio, then the Senate Majority Leader and a long-time legislator from Northern Nevada. Raggio is also a lawyer whose law firm happens to have a number of gaming concerns as clients. Can anyone spell “conflict of interest”? I was the only member of the legislature to respond. One out of 63.
In 1971 a state law came into effect that plainly stated the illegality of any employer taking any portion of an employee’s tips. Card dealers, like many other workers in Nevada subsist almost entirely on tips, and a few make a pretty decent living. Apparently Wynn thought his employees were making too good of a living because, in violation of the standing law, he instituted a policy that took 20% of the tips, excluded any of the dealers from being present when the tips were counted, and used those confiscated monies to boost the pay of managers being paid an hourly wage several times greater than the minimum wage paid to the dealers. Because a few of the dealers took home the occasional paycheck greater than that of their manager, Wynn called his policy fair, new, and refreshing. To the people losing 20% of their pay off the top it wasn’t refreshing at all. To the Nevada Revised Statutes it was a clear and direct violation of the law as it was written. But when you have a few Senators, Assemblymen and judges in your pocket, the written law is no barrier, especially when you can get a judge or two to say that the law doesn’t mean what it says.
I wrote a bill that would have forced the state to actually enforce the law. Wynn went ballistic and Bill Raggio shouted at me for 10 minutes about attacking his good friend. It’s amazing how much “friendship” money can buy. Prostitution isn’t an exclusive female occupation.
Now comes the elections and Raggio no longer has his big office, the leadership position or the majority. He is relegated to just being one of the boys in the minority and can no longer tell people what to do. So, what does he do? He issues a press release saying that the Republican Party must move to the middle and abandon the far right attitudes that obviously caused this electoral calamity. As is usual, Bill Raggio could not be more wrong. What caused the problem wasn’t Republican conservative ideals, what caused the problem was years of broken promises, greed and infighting. The party doesn’t need to move to the middle, what the party needs to do is go back to the days of Ronald Reagan and reestablish a set of core principles that benefit all citizens regardless of age, race, sex, religion or income. Then the party needs to stick to those principles even if it inconveniences their leadership or the rich and powerful. Of course, several members of the party would have to step down to do this, because one of those principles would include being principled.
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9 comments:
Not only did Senator Ragio (R) loose his leadership position, but so did Senator Townsend (R) who is also a “friend” of Mr. Wynn. Senator Ragio reassigned legislation passed by the Assembly which partially addressed the Tips issue to the Senate Judiciary Committee headed by his long time friend Senator Townsend who was solely responsible for burying that bill. Senator Townsend also buried similar legislation in 1996.
The bill sponsored by Assemblyman Bob Beers and the successor bill forwarded to the Senate received more voter interest (POSITIVE comments) than any other bill in recorded history. Apparently, both Senators, who represent northern Nevada, felt save ignoring the overwhelming support for said legislation. What they overlooked was that two Republican Senators in southern Nevada were facing reelection and that if just one were defeated; they would lose their leadership positions.
Senators Bob Beers (R) and Joe Hecht (R), who was the vice chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, both lost their reelection bid, in part, because tip earners in their districts remembered the arrogance toward the electorate displayed by the Republican leadership in the last legislative session.
I, a registered Republican, who approved of Senator Hecht’s policies, worked against his reelection.
It is my hope that elected representatives recognize that the Nevada voter will hold them accountable for their actions.
Well said. Joe's last name is spelled Heck, which made its way into several puns during the campaign. But that mispelling in no way alters the power in what you wrote. Here's hoping that certain people learn their lesson because I am going to be back and writing more bills that support the people of Nevada, not the powerful few.
Glad to hear you're going to be at work helping the people of Nevada (again).
We need all the help we can get!
And we're lucky to have a man of character and conviction on our side. Thanks, Bob.
The key to this whole thing is getting the word out. It's really hard to get dealers to stick together. Even if it's a tip-grab from the likes of, Steve Wynn. More publicity is what we need.
We should try to concentrate on all tip-earners, not just dealers. They need to know how such a practice will hurt them, also. Let them know that this tip-grab could spread, and not just in this state but all over the country.
Please run for office again, Mr. Beers. I certainly will vote for you. Run for an office where all the residents of the state can vote for you...not just a district. This tip-grab is a great platform.
Thank you so much for sticking up for the dealers and all tip-earners of Nevada. Please keep trying to help us.
We need to get the word out about this tip-grab. The trouble with dealers is they don't stick together. Even with the likes of, Steve Wynn, confiscating their tokes.
We should concentrate on all tip-earners, not just dealers. Let them know how this tip-grab could spread, and not just in this state, but all over the country.
Please run for office again, Mr. Beers. Just make sure it's an office where all the residents of Nevada can vote for you...not just a district. Run on this tip-grab platform. You'll get plenty of votes. You've certainly got my vote.
Thank you so much for all the hard work you've done on our behalf. Please keep trying to help us.
I've tried to post a couple of comments here, but they haven't appeared. Hopefully, this one will go through.
It's hard to get dealers to unite. Even when their tips are being stolen by the likes of, Steve Wynn.
Maybe we should concentrate on all tip-earners. Let them know this tip-grab could hurt everybody that makes money from tips, not only dealers. This isn't just a Nevada problem. It could spread all over the country.
Please run for office again, Mr. Beers. You should run for an office that would enable all residents of Nevada to vote for you...not just one district. You would certainly have my vote. Run on this tip-grab platform. There are thousands of tip-earners in Nevada. I know advertising is expensive, but perhaps you could send mailings to people's homes letting them know about this form of corporate greed, and how you will fight to stop it.
Thank you so much for all you've tried to do for the dealers. Please don't stop trying.
Well, your comments got through. It is not well noted except by a few people that AB357 received the greatest amount of voter attention than any other bill in Nevada history. It also made me a blood enemy of many who support my party. That is so wrong, it is going to take a few columns to detail why. I am going to run again, but probably not as a Republican.
Bob. You would have my vote no matter which party you choose, but I'm not in your district. I wish I was.
Just make sure you run on this particular issue. If you get the information out to every household, you'll get the votes. Tip-earners are a BIG voting block, and they need to understand this tip theft doesn't just hurt dealers....it hurts ALL tip-earners. People also need to know that their tip might not just be going to the person they gave it to and that an employer may take it to do whatever he wants with it.
If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know.
Bob. I'm glad I found your blog. It was posted on the TWU website.
I know AB357 received much attention, but not as much as it should have. I've talked to several friends (not tip-earners) who knew nothing about it. They need to get something in their mail box.
This whole matter should go to the voters. Mr. Steve Wynn must understand that he is not "God Of Las Vegas," or "God Of The State Of Nevada".
I'm sorry you made an enemy of anybody in your party because of your fight for us. Whether right or wrong, there's an anti-Republican sentiment in the country right now. Maybe if you do run under a different party you'll win next time.
I'll keep reading your blog, and I hope many more will, also.
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