Tip sharing faces another union battle

CARSON CITY -- Casino workers who earn tips could not be ordered by their bosses to share their tips under a petition filed Friday by International Union of Gaming Employees.

The organization wants the Legislature in 2009 to enact a law blocking casinos such as Wynn Las Vegas and other businesses from setting up tip-sharing arrangements where supervisors receive gratuities earned by dealers or other employees.

Even if the petition has enough signatures to quality, the Legislature is not expected to approve a law barring the practice. If the Legislature rejects it, then voters in 2010 would decide whether to change the law themselves.

The gaming employee union, headed by Las Vegas dealer Tony Badillo, also was involved in the unsuccessful move by Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Henderson, in 2007 to pass legislation to stop Wynn Las Vegas from requiring dealers to share tips with supervisors.

The Assembly passed Beers' bill 32-10 with all 27 Democrats voting yes. But the Republican-controlled Senate never held a hearing on the bill.

During hearings, Wynn executives said their casino decided in 2006 that dealers should share tips with their supervisors because of the widening disparity between income collected by dealers and casino floor executives.

Supporters of the tip measure said pit bosses often do not make as much as the dealers they supervise, but they voluntarily decided to become supervisors, rather than remain dealers.

Dealers typically earn little more than the minimum wage, but the bulk of their income comes from tips.

Under the Prevent Employers From Sharing Tips petition, only employees who directly receive tips would be entitled to receive these gratuities.

These employees could decide among themselves whether nontip-earning employees should share those tips.

The gaming employee organization needs to collect 58,628 valid signatures on its petitions before Nov. 11, or the proposal will not be forwarded to the Legislature for consideration in 2008.

If the union collects significant signatures, then the Legislature must act on the petition within 40 days or it will be placed on the election ballot in 2010. Once approved by voters, a tip sharing law could not be changed by the Legislature for at least three years.

Contact reporter Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or (775) 687-3901.