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Stakes rising in Laborers Local 872 White’s political poker game

John L. Smith
John L. Smith
Opinion
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Tommy White is a veteran union boss, but I suspect he plays a little poker, too.

For years the business manager and secretary-treasurer of Laborers Local 872 has been dogged by complaints that he’s crimped election rules in order to maintain control of the 2,500-member union. Around Local 872, even whispering about challenging White’s authority can get a member bounced from a plum assignment, according to complaints with the Department of Labor.

In an interview earlier this year, White called those complaints little more than sour grapes from disgruntled members who took a shot at him and lost. From the sound of his confident tone and neverending swagger, he’s obviously not losing much sleep over the ongoing civil matter in U.S. District Court. In fact, to date he’s managed to avoid sitting for an interview with DOL investigators looking into a list of member complaints that sound  a lot like election-tampering.

His professional life may be heating up on the inside, but he’s as cool as Texas Dolly on the outside. If White’s holding a flawed hand, you’d never know from his hard-punching Twitter account, his high profile on the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board and his direction of generous political contributions and rank-and-file support during the campaign season.

White moves in high-rolling business and political circles, providing Local 872’s stamp of approval on everything from stadium construction updates to the recent endorsement of Republican Sen. Dean Heller over challenger and Democrat Rep. Jacky Rosen. White enthused in a Heller campaign statement, “Nevadans need good paying jobs and Dean Heller has delivered over and over again – that’s why Local 872 has endorsed him for reelection.”

That may come as a surprise to other Nevada organized labor leaders, who consider Heller part of a GOP generation that has been decidedly anti-union. And Local 872‘s Nevada Progressives United PAC has received thousands in backing from that celebrated union man, casino industry multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson, and his Las Vegas Sands.

In an interview earlier this year, White said he believes his vocal support of the Las Vegas stadium, an Adelson pet project, and the local’s endorsement of Republican candidates have ruffled some overly sensitive types. He also made it clear he doesn’t care what other labor leaders think.

But his cool-hand confidence could be changing in the wake of a Sept. 4 “show cause” hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carl W. Hoffman Jr., who granted the DOL’s petition to enforce its administrative subpoena to compel White and some key Local 872 insiders to sit for interviews by the federal department’s investigator. They’ll also have to bring all the documents the government’s Office of Labor-Management Standards requested in its May 18 subpoena. In federal court documents, DOL attorneys have expressed frustration at White’s refusal to cooperate in its effort to resolve member complaints. White has led Local 872, an affiliate of the Laborers International Union of North America, since 2004 and obviously has no intention of looking for a new position.

Among those also headed toward an interview, according to a proposed order I’ve reviewed: the local’s political director Thomas Morley, executive board member Chelsy Torres, and Vice President Marco Hernandez. Hernandez ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Clark County Commission against Richard “Tick” Segerblom, who remains a favorite target of White’s Twitter ire.

Barring further delays, the interviews are scheduled to be finished no later than Oct. 24. After that we may see whether White has been bluffing.

His long association with national LIUNA leadership and a knowledge of the local’s governing rules – some of which he appears to have written himself – can only serve to bolster his confidence. Although he’s accused of disqualifying a challenger by the use of a literacy test – a move reminiscent of the Jim Crow South – White is quick to remind skeptics the rule isn’t locally added, but is written into the International’s Constitution.

The literacy test issue is a key point of interest of Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Flake, who is assisting in the DOL action. In a Feb. 7 letter to White’s defense attorney David Rosenfield prior to a scheduled spring election at Local 872, Flake wrote, “If Local 872 is willing to agree to waive its literacy test requirement for its Spring 2018 election, please advise me immediately. A decision to waive the literacy requirement would also make it possible to settle the litigation.”

In a heated election season, where almost anything goes, I’m beginning to wonder whether a candidate will try to make an issue out of the Local 872 endorsement and the ugly imagery surrounding the literacy test.

Either way, with the DOL interviews coming, Tommy White may eventually have to play the cards that are dealt.

Disclosure: Laborers of North America Local No. 872 and Tick Segerblom have donated to The Nevada Independent. You can view a full list of our donors here.

John L. Smith is a longtime columnist and author. Contact him at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.

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