Culinary continues to target Deutsche Bank’s ties to Station

A Culinary Union rally is shown at Lions Memorial Park near Cashman Field, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. The gathering was latest union effort to protest Station Casinos.

The Culinary Union today sought to escalate its latest campaign to pressure Station Casinos by holding a rally in favor of “clean gaming” aimed squarely at a bank that has ties to the locals-oriented gaming company.

A small crowd turned out to the union’s event at Lions Memorial Park to relay their opposition to the bank’s involvement with Station, and some of them later appeared at the Nevada Gaming Commission meeting at the Sawyer State Office Building nearby.

The events marked the latest episode in the union’s monthslong fight against Deutsche Bank — one that is itself part of a broader struggle with Station that stretches back many years.

Spokespeople for Station Casinos and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Culinary Union Protest

The Culinary Union protests in front of Palace Station, in an ongoing attempt to unionize employees at the Station Casinos chain, Friday July 10, 2015. Launch slideshow »

The Culinary has said it was concerned about the bank’s involvement in a major international finance scandal and wants regulators to investigate whether the bank is fit to hold onto its ties to Station. A subsidiary of Deutsche Bank owns 25 percent of Station, an interest it acquired during the casino company’s bankruptcy reorganization several years ago, according to Bloomberg.

The bank agreed earlier this year to pay $2.5 billion to settle charges that it manipulated the London interbank offered rate, according to The New York Times. The interest rate, also known as Libor, is a benchmark rate that affects everything from mortgages to student loans.

In July, the Culinary sent letters to the chairmen of the Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission asking them to hold hearings about whether Deutsche Bank was suitable to remain associated with Station. Since then, Culinary members have spoken out against the bank during public comment periods on multiple occasions, but regulators have not announced any plans to hold a hearing in response.

The union raised the issue again after Station disclosed plans in October to once more become a publicly traded company. In early November, the union sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission questioning why Station did not disclose Deutsche Bank’s problems in its registration for an initial public offering.

Culinary affiliate Zachary Poppel told the gaming commission during public comment today that it should not allow for a “permissive regulatory system” to take hold by letting Deutsche Bank remain connected to Station.

“We believe you are setting a dangerous precedent if you look the other way when there is a casino owner with a record like Deutsche Bank’s,” Poppel said.

Opposition to Deutsche amounts to another way for the union to continue its long-running fight with Station, the owner of 19 Nevada casinos geared toward Las Vegas locals. The Culinary has for years sought to organize Station workers, but the company has so far remained nonunion.

Deutsche Bank also used to own the Cosmopolitan until it sold the resort to Blackstone Group for $1.73 billion last year.

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