Kudos goes out to the public relations professionals who worked to curtail protester impact on the Las Vegas tourism industry.
Working hand-in-hand with the Culinary Union, the local casinos found a way to empower their employees while ensuring visitors to Las Vegas didn’t feel much pressure from the Day Without Immigrants protest.?Ç Workers were encouraged to show up to work and sign petitions asking Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul package.?Ç Local television and newspaper showed workers lined up to sign the petition.?Ç Meanwhile, workers were asked to hold off their protest until 6 p.m., long after most work shifts had ended, and gather for an immigration rights rally at the Fremont Street Experience.
That event was organized by Culinary to provide workers a way to attend work and still show their support for immigration reform. Culinary represents approximately 60,000 workers, of which, 40 percent are estimated to be immigrants.?Ç The effort filled the Freemont Street Experience, however, in the Review-Journal, the evening protest was described by some as a “parade.”
“Thank you for coming to work today,” union official Punam Mathur told the thousands gathered on Fremont Monday evening. “You make our companies better. You make Las Vegas better.”
Meanwhile, some of the 3,000 marchers who skipped work earlier in the day to attend the local daytime demonstration dismissed the Monday night protests as a ploy by the gaming industry and the largest union with which it contracts to keep employees from walking off the job.
“After six, that’s not a boycott; that’s a parade,” said California-born George Solorsana, who helped organize the morning protest. “We need to boycott. We’re sick and tired of being pushed around.”
Overall, resorts reported very little absenteeism.?Ç The only group of workers that seemed to be missing on the Strip Monday was the hawkers who hand out the nudie cards.?Ç Also I couldn’t get a chile relleno at my favorite restaurant.?Ç But as an immigrant tourist from Czechoslovakia put it, “Service has been fine and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.” said Imrich Kusnir, “I really don’t see the big deal.”
