The Future of Labor Relations in the Global Hospitality Industry
The UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law presents a panel on
The Future of Labor Relations in the Global Hospitality Industry
Thursday, September 22 2016 | 4:00 p.m.
1 CLE credit
Featuring keynote remarks from
D. Taylor
President, UNITE HERE International Union
With commentary from
Wilma B. Liebman, Esq.
Past Chair, National Labor Relations Board
And
Robert Rippee
Director, UNLV Hospitality Innovation Lab
Moderated by
Professor Ruben J. Garcia
This event is free and open to the public. To register for this event, please click here.
Event Location: Thomas & Mack Moot Court, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law
For more information, please contact:
Nakia Jackson-Hale
Phone: 702-895-2489
Email: nakia.jackson-hale@unlv.edu
About the Speakers
D. Taylor
D. Taylor was elected President of UNITE HERE in November of 2012.
Mr. Taylor has been a leader in the American labor movement for 34 years. Throughout the course of his career, he has worked to empower rank and file members to organize and lead their union. Mr. Taylor has led workers across the country to political and organizing victories.
Mr. Taylor was born and raised in Williamsburg, Virginia. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1980. During his time in Washington, Mr. Taylor was a shop steward at Harvey’s Restaurant.
In 1981, Mr. Taylor was hired to organize casino workers in the Reno/Tahoe area. Eventually he was moved to Las Vegas to help lead a citywide strike of Strip and downtown workers. The strike was one of the largest in Las Vegas history.
During his tenure in Las Vegas, the Union’s local, the Culinary Workers Union, grew from 18,000 members in 1987 to over 55,000 in 2013. Mr. Taylor worked as an organizer during some of the union’s most challenging moments including the six-year, four-month, ten-day strike at the Frontier Casino.
Mr. Taylor was part of a team that helped successfully rebuild the Culinary Workers Union Local 226. He was elected Secretary-Treasurer in 2002 and remained in that position until 2013. For the first time in Las Vegas history, contracts were negotiated to include language to protect housekeepers from being overworked or injured on the job.
In 2004, Mr. Taylor was appointed as the Gaming Division director of UNITE HERE. He was the chief negotiator and strategist when workers at Local 54 in Atlantic City went on strike. He led casino workers across the country to victories and expanded the union’s organizing in states like Mississippi, Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. He also oversaw the union’s expansion in California Tribal Gaming.
Wilma B. Liebman
President Obama designated Wilma B. Liebman to be Chairman of the NLRB on January 20, 2009. She served as Chairman until August 27, 2011, when her third term expired. Since then, she has been engaged in various advisory roles and consulting projects and has taught at several universities. She presently serves as a Visiting Distinguished Scholar at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations. She has also taught at New York University Law School, Cornell University’s Law School and Industrial and Labor Relations School, the University of Illinois’ College of Law and the School of Labor and Employment Relations, and George Washington University Law School.
Ms. Liebman was first appointed to be a Member of the NLRB by President Clinton and was twice reappointed by President Bush. She was the third longest serving Member of the NLRB in its 77-year history. Prior to joining the NLRB, Ms. Liebman served for two years as Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and for two years as Special Assistant to the Director. Prior to joining FMCS in January 1994, Ms. Liebman held positions as Labor Counsel for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, and Legal Counsel to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
She holds an A.B. degree from Barnard College, and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Economic Policy Institute, a fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and the American Law Institute, and a Senior Research Associate of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School. She serves on the Executive Advisory Board of the Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations. And as of May 1, 2014, she has served as Chair of the Dunlop Commission on Agricultural Labor.
Robert Rippee
Robert Rippee is the Director of the newly formed Hospitality Lab at the International Gaming Institute. As the gaming innovation class has brought innovation to the casino industry, the Hospitality Lab seeks to do the same with the global hospitality industry. The lab is a project oriented innovation lab addressing the top needs and opportunities within an entire industry.
Rippee is a technology and hospitality consultant with Elysian LLC. He is the former senior vice president of marketing for Las Vegas Sands Corporation. He brings more than 25 years of innovation experience in hospitality along with a powerful network of advisors and mentors across venture capital, big tech, big hospitality, and gaming. He serves as a board advisor and consultant to several early stage technology startup companies. Rippee has provided CXO consulting and mentoring to both startups and growth stage enterprises as well as consulting services on innovative thinking and product development to mature brands.
Rippee holds an MBA in Operations Management from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and an undergraduate degree in Finance from The University of Wyoming. Throughout his business career, he has received several prestigious industry awards and he’s been tapped as a thought leader and asked to lecture at organizations as diverse at the Luxury Marketing Council in Manhattan to The Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.
He is a Veteran, serving as a Pilot in the United States Navy.