Culinary Union Calling Vegas Tourists “Skanks,” “Losers”

(NN&V Staff) – Yesterday, the Alliance to Protect Nevada Jobs (APNJ) released even more footage with Local Culinary Union 226 protestors calling tourists “skanks,” “ugly” and “losers.”

On Wednesday, the APNJ released footage from last weekend’s Local Culinary Union 226 protest at the Cosmopolitan in which union leaders can be heard shouting derogatory terms at tourists. In doing so the Alliance called upon the Local Culinary Union and Nevada elected officials to denounce these tactics and asked them to stand with the APNJ in supporting Las Vegas tourism.

“After receiving the video footage I was appalled by what I saw and heard,” said Las Vegas Councilman Stavros Anthony. “Las Vegas has always been a prime destination for tourists and those visitors support over 300,000 local jobs. Why the local union would think it is appropriate to shout obscenities and call them names is beyond me and simply unacceptable.”

However, the union itself seems to disagree.

In an interview with Ed Komenda for Vegas INC, Geoconda Arguello-Kline, the Culinary’ s secretary-treasurer, simply said there was nothing wrong with these tactics stating, “The recent civil disobediences, rallies and pickets are exercises of workers’ First Amendment rights and part of the struggle for the Las Vegas Dream.”

These union bosses have even openly invited legislators to attend such protests despite the slurs being used to describe tourists.

Yesterday APNJ sent a letter to federal, state, and local politicians attempting to set the record straight. In it, APNJ calls on elected lawmakers to denounce the Culinary Union’s latest tactic of harassing tourists and deterring economic activity in the Silver State.  APNJ is hopeful that officials will quickly denounce these tactics.

“Not denouncing these protests amounts to condoning them,” said Ron Futrell, spokesperson for the Alliance to Protect Nevada Jobs (APNJ). “These guerilla tactics are beyond deplorable. No one deserves to be treated this way, especially not Las Vegas tourists.

“We cannot let actions like these go unchecked when thousands of Las Vegas residents are already suffering from a weak economy. Union bosses have gone too far and rather than working to protect Nevada jobs, they are only serving to hurt the workers they claim to be represent.”

To view the new footage, click here.

To view yesterday’s video, click here.

To access a copy of the letter, click here.