Station Casino Under Fire By The Union
The union is studying Station Casino and what they are finding, isn’t good. The Culinary Local 226 is requesting the casino’s creditors demand funds from insiders who profited from their buyout earlier this year. The casino is seeking bankruptcy protection but the Union is focusing on investor funding as a means of managing debt. Station Casinos is not happy about the demand and reportedly called it “silly” and “just more of some corporate harassment by the union leadership that has been going on for years due to their frustration over not being able to persuade our employees to join the union.”
The union has been trying for years now to help the casino reorganize its assets. Those assets include 18 properties that employ about 13,000 people. The union has also sent letters to creditors requesting that they lean on the company’s insiders to return money they made individually from the buyout. In the statement the union wrote: “Station Casinos could have averted bankruptcy if not for the substantial debt it took on largely to enrich a small group of company insiders.” The union said the amount was close to $1 billion of the $5.4 billion buyout price. They also assert that the company’s debt tripled and reached $5.2 billion between 2005 and 2007 and most of the debt being used to buy back shares and fund the buyout. They believe that Station Casinos could have avoided bankruptcy if they had reworked their debt and buyout differently.
The statement added, “You would think that in these difficult economic times, when thousands of union members have lost their jobs, that the Culinary union leadership would have something more productive to do with their members’ dues than to create and distribute this silly report concerning a bankruptcy proceeding in which they have absolutely no involvement.” The report was released just prior to Station Casinos’ next bankruptcy date. They are scheduled to appear in front of the judge and answer question on their actions. Boyd Gaming Corp will also be in attendance and request that a third-party examiner be allowed to review the gambling company’s financial records over the past five years. The casino is seeking a four-month extension from the November 25th deadline to file a proposal.
Tags: bankruptcy, Station Casino, union
