Boyd gets status of not operational for casino

Petition granted by Henderson council

The Henderson City Council on Tuesday approved a request from Boyd Gaming Corp. to make the gaming and liquor licenses for the Eldorado Casino nonoperational.

That means the Water Street property, first opened in 1961, will remain closed, one of three Boyd properties in Southern Nevada shuttered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The council voted unanimously for the request as part of its consent agenda.

Michelle Rasmusson, vice president of regulatory compliance with Boyd, wrote a letter requesting nonoperational status to Henderson City Manager Richard Derrick on July 15.

A spokesman for Boyd referenced the company’s July 28 earnings call when asked for comment.

While the request allows the casino to have nonoperational status and remain closed through June 4, company officials indicated in the earnings call that it is uncertain when the three Boyd properties — Main Street Station, Eastside Cannery and Eldorado — would reopen.

Referencing Main Street Station in downtown Las Vegas, Boyd CEO Keith Smith said in the conference call with investors that customer demand would dictate when the casinos reopen.

Armando Rivera, a shop steward for Bartenders Local 165, said he attended Tuesday’s rally to fight to extend a worker’s right to return past the one-year mark and extend health care benefits to the end of the year.

Rivera is a former employee at HMSHOST and one of the 940 employees set to be laid off by the food service provider at Mccarran International Airport this October.

He said his benefits are scheduled

to expire Oct. 31, and his right to return through his contract would expire a year after his last day of work.

“It is extremely difficult. It’s just living in fear every day,” he said. “We’re just here fighting for our rights to keep our health care, keep our jobs.”

Gloria Rodriguez, a member of the Culinary union and a former banquet server, said she attended Tuesday’s rally for her father, Rogelio Solis, a union official and Bellagio employee.

Her father was unable to attend

after contracting COVID-19 and has been at University Medical Center hospital for the past five weeks, she said.

While the rally was union-led, the ordinance would apply to both union and nonunion workers.

Save Our Jobs represents roughly 87,000 workers across the state from hospitality and conventions to entertainment and health care, according to a Monday news release.