MMA and unions

[billc]

This story came out today, and concerns why there are no MMA fights in New York...unions...

http://biggovernment.com/adelgado/2...-new-york-the-battle-over-mixed-martial-arts/

Most of us have heard of mixed martial arts (MMA), the fastest growing sport in the world, and its largest organization, the Ultimate Fighter Champion (UFC). Conservative radio host and best-selling author Mark Levin gushes it is “the greatest sport around.” Of the 48 states with athletic commissions,MMA has been legalized in every single one – save for three: Connecticut (though MMA is allowed within its Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun reservations), Vermont, and… New York. New York?! Seems odd that the home of millions of MMA fans, of Madison Square Garden, and of the most historic entertainment events, is one of the lone standouts. The reason? The unions.

Ever wonder why there’s never been an MMA match at Madison Square Garden, or anywhere in New York State? Thank the unions and their notorious strong-arm tactics. . . . As Lorenzo Fertitta [majority shareholder of the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, Inc.] explained: “The fact that MMA is not legal in New York is solely because of the Culinary Union.” Wait, what?! Fertitta is referring to theCulinary Workers Union, Local 226, a 60,000-member union in Nevada representing those in the hospitality industry, mostly casino employees. Through Zuffa, the Fertitta brothers [Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta] are the majority shareholders of the UFC. Frank is also CEO/Chairman of Station Casinos Inc., the Fertitta family business started by his grandfather in 1976 with a mere 90 employees, which grew into a nearly $1 billion company with 13,000 employees — employees who have elected not to unionize, making Station Casinos the largest non-union gaming company in the country — the Wal-Mart of the gaming world, if you will.

​

Safe to say, the Fertittas are not on any union bosses’ Christmas list. For 30 years, the Culinary Union has tried unsuccessfully to unionize Station Casinos’ employees.So, in an apparent effort to put pressure on the Fertittas (or to exact a bit of retribution), the Culinary Union has made it a point to prevent MMA’s legalization, using its affiliates’ substantial political power in New York.
​

This past October, USA Today noted the unions’ relentless attacks on MMA: “As part of its campaign to pressure the Fertittas, the Culinary Union has tried to cut into their UFC business by going through government and political channels.” (emphasis added) The article recaps the unions’ tactics: backing anti-MMA legislation in New York; calling on the FTC to investigate UFC for monopolistic practices [the FTC announced last month it was closing its investigation, having found nothing of concern]; a website focused exclusively on attacking UFC President Dana White; a petition calling on Fox to back away from its deal to broadcast UFC events; and demanding Anheuser-Busch pull its Bud Light sponsorship of UFC.
Their latest attack? This week, the aforementioned Las Vegas Culinary Union, whose website is largely dedicated to attacking the Fertitta family’s Station Casinos (ironically, a company routinely listed as one of Fortune Magazine’s ‘Best Companies to Work For&#8217, went before the Las Vegas Athletic Commission to protest what they call ‘exploitative business practices’ in MMA, calling on the Commission to demand a Bill of Rights for the sports’ participants. Keep in mind: this is a hospitality services union — not a sports union; it should, theoretically, have no interest in, nor spend their members’ dues on, protesting the UFC.

 

[Tez3]

I've no idea about any of the union v MMA stuff but can suggest why a culinary union may be involved. It's quite common for the 'seats' around the cage/ring to be tables where food and drink is served, sometimes it's a buffet, sometimes proper meals. usually there are waiting staff as well.

 

[ballen0351]

I've no idea about any of the union v MMA stuff but can suggest why a culinary union may be involved. It's quite common for the 'seats' around the cage/ring to be tables where food and drink is served, sometimes it's a buffet, sometimes proper meals. usually there are waiting staff as well.

It has more to do with the owner of UFC. He owns a non union casino and the union want to use keeping mma outlawed in NY as a punishment for not letting unions into his vegas casinos.

 

[Tez3]

He won't let women fight in the UFC , a restrictive employer all round.

 

[elder999]

This story came out today, and concerns why there are no MMA fights in New York...unions...

http://biggovernment.com/adelgado/2...-new-york-the-battle-over-mixed-martial-arts/

Ya know, billi-I go to Vegas a lot, maybe four times a year, but sometimes as many as 8.

There is, as usual, more to the story than bigassheilbreitbartgovernmentpajamas has to say about it.

From the Las Vegas Sun:

In its drive to organize workers, the union attacks not just the companies it views as anti-labor, but also board members and their companies, major shareholders, subsidiary companies, executives. You name it. Why? Because it’s effective. White concluded: “They are just trying to make this thing look bad and trying to hurt the Fertittas by lobbying against the UFC and mixed martial arts.”
Correct.
And the Fertittas should certainly understand these tactics. They’ve used their own tough methods, whether dealing with the competition, their creditors or the Culinary Union

So, first off, it's just business as usual for the union-an effective tactic against management.

When the economy tanked and the Fertittas were faced with the loss of the company, they stared down their creditors and in exchange for $200 million they put back in the company, they reduced Station debt from around $6 billion to around $2 billion while maintaining operational control of the company.
The bankruptcy came soon after the Fertittas took the business private in a leveraged buyout, which is when you buy a company by borrowing money using its own assets as collateral.

Second off, The Station casinos appear to be more like the K-Mart of casinos than the Walmart, what with leveraged buyouts and bankruptcy and all.......:lfao:

(I've never been to one, they're more for the locals, I think-though I might have been to one in Blackhawk, CO.)

As for its dealings with the union, the company is defending itself against accusations of dozens of federal labor law violations.
Friday, an administrative law judge issued a cease-and-desist order to Station and forwarded some 80 charges to a full three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board. The judge dismissed a majority of the charges, including the most serious charge that the company was guilty of ethnic discrimination.
The still-alive allegations include interrogation and surveillance and the firing and disciplining of workers involved in the union drive

And these are unfair and unlawful labor practices. The best way to keep a workforce from unionizing is to give them all the benefits they'd get with a union contract-it's really that simple, and proven time and time again. The law says that if the workforce wants to unionize, then they can, and that has been the most effective way of keeping them from organizing-in fact, until the bankruptcy, the Station had to pay a competitive wage for its employees that was comparable to union employees.(Hospitality employees in Vegas make 30% more than their counterparts nationwide, because it's Vegas, baby!) In fact, most of the organizing has taken place because of labor practices, and not pay or benefits.

As for professional MMA in New York, it'll happen when "New York" wants it to-that includes, unfortunately, the Boxing Commission....

 

[Cryozombie]

(I've never been to one, they're more for the locals, I think-though I might have been to one in Blackhawk, CO.)

I stayed at the Palace Station in Vegas, oh, lessee... 5 years or so ago. It was 29 bucks a night, and 4 of us shared the room, for 5 nights... making our total stay around 40 bucks for the whole week... not only were we surprised at the place (we expected a total roach motel dive, and really it was much better than that, No Ceasers Palace, but well worth the 29 bucks a night anyhow) but Jetboatdeath also pretty consistently won at the slots there... 50-100 bucks a pop, usually on penny or nickel machines. Overall it was a great time. Just sayin'