May 1, 2006
A Day Without Immigrants Dispatches:
In Las Vegas, Casino Pleas
May Have Worked
By Steve Friess
LAS VEGAS, May 1 — Efforts by the casino industry
to avoid a widespread work stoppage appeared to be largely successful,
possibly thanks to an unusual effort by casino executives to
persuade their workers to show up at their jobs.
A rally drew about 2,000 people who marched
five miles along Las Vegas Boulevard.
The park rally also drew representatives of
law firms that handle immigration cases, who handed out T-shirts
with the firms' logos and relabeled bottled water in the 90-degree
heat.
"There should be more people here," said a
disappointed homemaker, Veronica Cardona, 31, who pulled her
four children out of school as well and attended the rally with
them, her husband, her 14-year-old sister and her 16-year-old
niece. Her husband took a day off without pay from his construction
job. "This is an education for my children in standing up for
something they believe in. They are good students. This is more
important than school today."
Norberto Torres, 29, a cook at the Paris Hotel-Casino,
said he took a personal day to miss work and attend the event.
"We're not trying to ruin the economy, we're
just trying to show America that we're humans, too, we're not
criminals, we have to eat and we have to work," said Mr. Torres,
a United States citizen who immigrated from Guadalajara, Mexico,
two decades ago.
Yet others scorned those who took the day off
properly.
"It defeats the purpose if we give them the
notice to replace us," said Jorge, a 35-year-old card dealer
at a Strip casino who didn't give his last name for fear of
being fired. "If you're going to boycott, you don't go helping
them out. That's just stupid."
Two elderly women protested the rally by holding
up a white sign that said, "Illegals, Go Home. Your Rights Are
There." At one point, the American-flag-decked pair, Carol Desmond,
74, and Jackie Pinjuv, 68, were so surrounded by angry protesters
denouncing their message that one alarmed demonstrator whisked
them away to safety in a fenced-in dog run section of the park.
They were left alone after that.
"I wasn't scared then, but now I realize we
were in danger," Ms. Pinjuv said. "I believe that these people
are hurting our country and they need to go back. It's wrong."
On the Las Vegas Strip, resort representatives
insisted there's been no discernable disruption. That may be
the result of an unusual press conference last week at which
several casino leaders announced support for the protesters'
goals but pleaded with them to come to work.
As an incentive, more than 40 casinos set up
tables by employee lunchrooms today where employees could sign
petitions opposing legislation that would criminalize illegal
immigrants currently in the United States. Also urging employees
to go to work have been leaders of Culinary Union 226, which
represents 50,000 workers, 40 percent of whom are Hispanic.
The city's three largest resort companies, MGM
Mirage, Station Casinos and Harrah's Entertainment Inc., all
reported normal or smaller-than-usual absentee levels.
Still, the publicity surrounding the boycott
still may have impacted perceptions. Regina and Danny Howell
of Dallas complained that service was poor at the buffet at
the Bellagio Hotel-Casino this morning and wondered if it was
due to the protest.
"It took forever to get our drinks," Ms. Howell
complained. "I don't know if they're having trouble because
of the immigration thing, but it didn't seem like anyone was
working."
-- STEVE FRIESS
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