The stories of the shadowy networks and wealthy people who bankrolled
and sustained Las Vegas's continuous reinvention are well documented in
works of scholarship, journalism, and popular culture. Yet no one has
studied closely and over a long period of time the dynamics of the
workforce--the casino and hotel workers and their relations with the
companies they work for and occasionally strike against. James P. Kraft
here explores the rise and changing fortunes of organized and
unorganized labor as Las Vegas evolved from a small, somewhat seedy
desert oasis into the glitzy tourist destination that it is today.
Drawing on scores of interviews, personal and published accounts, and
public records, Kraft brings to life the largely behind-the-scenes
battles over control of Sin City workplaces between 1960 and 1985. He
examines successful and failed organizing drives, struggles over pay and
equal rights, and worker grievances and arbitration to show how the
resort industry's evolution affected hotel and casino workers. From
changes in the political and economic climate to large-scale strikes,
backroom negotiations, and individual worker-supervisor confrontations,
Kraft explains how Vegas's overwhelmingly service-oriented economy
works--and doesn't work--for the people and companies who cater to the
city's pleasure-seeking visitors.
American historians and anyone interested in the history of labor or Las
Vegas will find this account highly original, insightful, and
even-handed.
