Las Vegas Sun reports on the SEIU’s attempts to raid Culinary union members (whose parent union is UNITE HERE). The SEIU’s motions to organize hotel and casino workers comes only a month after SEIU President Andy Stern said his union would not. Stern said, “We are certainly not intending to go raid anybody. We don’t think there’s a need in Las Vegas for another union to represent the hospitality workers that are there.”

Things changed quickly in a month. SEIU affiliate Workers United sent a letter to to casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City asking for the same organizing rights that the Culinary union enjoys. In response, the Nevada AFL-CIO – which the Culinary union is a member of – issued a resolution essentially telling Stern and the SEIU to back off.

Culinary Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor said members have been receiving robo-calls and mailers calling for secession from the union. Taylor said, “They are clearly trying to divide workers in order to do a raid and a takeover.”

We’ve already highlighted some examples of how ugly the UNITE HERE vs. SEIU fight is. Expect to see more of the same from across the country. The nature of the union’s responses to their own battles is a good indicator of how they will function if EFCA is passed.