Maybe it might help for some first hand information from someone who not only works in Las Vegas but is a union member and bargaining team member as well.
This strike comes down to Dave Banelli trying to flex his muscles, period. AMR is simply not wanting to acknowledge our union. To clear some things up there are not two unions in Las Vegas. LV AMR is SEIU Local 1107, however IAEP was elected by the membership on Sept. 2nd and 3rd of 08 to service our upcoming contract and, upon completion of the contract, LV AMR will become an IAEP Local itself. What AMR is attempting to do is interject WHO they bargaining with, something they know they can't do. Most of you don't know but the initial contract took 3 years because of the same stall tactics by AMR. This is nothing new for most operations and the real question here is how far does AMR really want to push us, are they willing to lose their franchise agreement? Also just a little side note AMR last year posted a $37 million dollar profit in Las Vegas alone, doubt they are wanting to lose that!
Again these stall tactics are nothing new, and in the end should it go to strike I'm sure AMR will face severe punishment from the city up to and including losing their ability to operate. This, in turn, will force the county to come in and take over the operations including employees, ambulances, etc, effectively making it a 3rd service. So where we go from here is AMR's decision and my guess is that they are not willing to lose this contract, it's one of the very few that are profitable!