Casino Connection Nevada

Troubles at the Trop

by Staff

The Culinary Local 226 seems to be getting what it wants in its protracted contract battle with the Tropicana and its owner, Columbia Sussex Corp. The union has been complaining about problems at the property since the new owner came in, and stopped just short of questioning the integrity of the Nevada Gaming Control Board for not following up on its allegations.

The latest accusation from the union is that the Tropicana has become unsafe because of reductions in security. This follows claims that the place is dirty, that customer service is poor and that workers are being asked not to deposit their paychecks.

It finally reached a point last month where gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander was essentially forced to confirm that regulators are monitoring the situation at the Tropicana.

“We have a statutory mission and we’re going to fulfill our obligations,” Neilander said. “It has been suggested that perhaps we are not, so at this point and time I felt it was necessary to go ahead and talk about what we’re doing.”

While Neilander was not able to provide specifics about the investigations, he did say that the board has not found any “material violations.” As for claims that service levels are down, well, that’s not really of much concern to regulators so long as the integrity of the games are protected.

“If someone makes a poor business decision it usually means they are going to suffer, their business will suffer,” he said. “Typically, that’s not a regulatory issue here.”

Hud Englehart, a spokesman for the Tropicana said the company is cooperating with investigators.

He admitted that there was a small increase in security incidents last year after the company cut security guards stationed outside of the property, but those guards were brought back when management noticed the problem.

Essentially, Englehart said the union is making up the problems “so that they can roast the property on half-based data and innuendo.”