Tag: New York Culinary Workers Union

Fed Up With The Culinary Union’s Bullshit, The UFC Launches an Attack Website of Its Own

Suffice it to say, if you aren’t aware of all the downright despicable practices The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 has pulled over the years in regards to the UFC and MMA in general, you’ve probably been living in the dark. Operating under a thinly-veiled “concern” for the conduct of UFC fighters and a need to protect our children from the potty mouth of Dana White, the CU — often backed by one or more anti-women’s violence groups — has been the driving force behind the anti-MMA movement in New York. The fact that their continuous harassment of the UFC and laughable (not to mention libelous) smear campaigns have only hurt the economy of the state they are trying to “protect” is an irony that has apparently been lost on them.

In either case, it appears that the UFC has grown tired of seeing so many websites backed by the CU — websites that, like the CU itself, operate under a false front — popping up over the years, and has launched their own counter-website, TheTruthAboutCulinary226.com. The website aims to both expose the Culinary Union for the dissembling moralists that they truly are in addition to uncovering just how poorly the organization is managing its own member’s funds:

The Culinary Union has targeted Station Casinos because the company refuses to agree to a “card check” process whereby the Culinary Union may become the representative of its employees without being elected as such through a secret ballot election. Rather than simply following the secret ballot election process that U.S. federal law provides, the Culinary Union’s management has instead waged a dishonest campaign to pressure Station Casinos to capitulate to its demands. As part of that campaign, the Culinary Union has been engaging in harassment tactics that target all of the business interests of the Fertittas, including Station Casinos and the UFC. 

The Culinary Union has criticized Zuffa for making political contributions of $231,650 in 2012.  However, in 2012, UNITE HERE itself spent almost 5 ½ times more than Zuffa on cash disbursements for political activities and lobbying, totaling $1,252,676. Additionally, UNITE HERE paid a total of $1,158,598 to “consultants” in 2011.

Suffice it to say, if you aren’t aware of all the downright despicable practices The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 has pulled over the years in regards to the UFC and MMA in general, you’ve probably been living in the dark. Operating under a thinly-veiled “concern” for the conduct of UFC fighters and a need to protect our children from the potty mouth of Dana White, the CU — often backed by one or more anti-women’s violence groups — has been the driving force behind the anti-MMA movement in New York. The fact that their continuous harassment of the UFC and laughable (not to mention libelous) smear campaigns have only hurt the economy of the state they are trying to “protect” is an irony that has apparently been lost on them.

In either case, it appears that the UFC has grown tired of seeing so many websites backed by the CU — websites that, like the CU itself, operate under a false front — popping up over the years, and has launched their own counter-website, TheTruthAboutCulinary226.com. The website aims to both expose the Culinary Union for the dissembling moralists that they truly are in addition to uncovering just how poorly the organization is managing its own member’s funds:

The Culinary Union has targeted Station Casinos because the company refuses to agree to a “card check” process whereby the Culinary Union may become the representative of its employees without being elected as such through a secret ballot election. Rather than simply following the secret ballot election process that U.S. federal law provides, the Culinary Union’s management has instead waged a dishonest campaign to pressure Station Casinos to capitulate to its demands. As part of that campaign, the Culinary Union has been engaging in harassment tactics that target all of the business interests of the Fertittas, including Station Casinos and the UFC. 

The Culinary Union has criticized Zuffa for making political contributions of $231,650 in 2012.  However, in 2012, UNITE HERE itself spent almost 5 ½ times more than Zuffa on cash disbursements for political activities and lobbying, totaling $1,252,676. Additionally, UNITE HERE paid a total of $1,158,598 to “consultants” in 2011. 

TheTruthAboutCulinary226 also cites several lawsuits and complaints that have been filed against local unions including 226 over the years, and wouldn’t you know it, the allegations aimed at many of the CU’s members are far more reprehensible and corrupt than anything they’ve been able to dig up on the UFC thus far. Hypocrisy at it’s finest, Nation. A few examples:

– On October 22, 1992, a Complaint was filed with the United States government against HERE Local 100 and former officers of the local. The Complaint alleged that the local was influenced and controlled by members of organized crime. On October 23, 1992, a Consent Decree was filed, pursuant to which a monitor was appointed to investigate wrongdoing and review the international union trustee’s actions.The trusteeship concluded on August 23, 1994.

– HERE International Union was reported to have “a documented relationship with the Chicago “Outfit” of La Cosa Nostra at the international level, and subject to the influence of the Gambino, Colombo, and Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra families at the local level” in the President’s Commission on Organized Crime presented to President  Ronald Reagan in 1986 (emphasis included in original).

– In that same report, HEREIU Local 54, located in Atlantic City, was described as “a classic case study in organized crime and labor racketeering. Several of the officers of this union and its predecessor unions boast convictions for murder, arson, extortion, drugs, bribes, kickbacks, and racketeering…”

– In 2010, a complaint was filed against Local 226 charging the union with using coercive and intimidating tactics with union members at early voting sites around the Las Vegas valley.

You can read up on the history of the Culinary Unions corrupt tactics, the mismanagement of their own funds, and the UFC’s continuous community efforts here.

–J. Jones

Dana White to Gay UFC Fighters: It’s Safe to Come Out Now


(“…and one more for that dude who plays Spock.” Photo via Zimbio)

During yesterday’s UFC 137 press conference, UFC president Dana White made his stance known on a controversial subject in pro sports (via MMA Mania):

“I’ll tell you right now, if there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out. I could care less if there’s a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is and there’s probably more than one. I mean, it’s 2012. Give me a break. But you’re going to have guys like Nogueira who come from Brazil, who’s got that macho, Latino — doesn’t want to roll with a gay guy. People are going to say stuff like this. But that’s the best answer I can give you is, give me a (freaking) break and be honest. Come on. We’re all human beings. We all make mistakes sometimes. It doesn’t mean that the UFC is bad and we’re unfit for children and all this other stuff. Tell you what: Out of the 375 guys, we’ve got a few lunatics, some guys that are nutty, and then we’ve got 300 and something that are incredible, awesome human beings who are inspirational to kids and adults and whoever else is a human being.”


(“…and one more for that dude who plays Spock.” Photo via Zimbio)

During yesterday’s UFC 137 press conference, UFC president Dana White made his stance known on a controversial subject in pro sports (via MMA Mania):

“I’ll tell you right now, if there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out. I could care less if there’s a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is and there’s probably more than one. I mean, it’s 2012. Give me a break. But you’re going to have guys like Nogueira who come from Brazil, who’s got that macho, Latino — doesn’t want to roll with a gay guy. People are going to say stuff like this. But that’s the best answer I can give you is, give me a (freaking) break and be honest. Come on. We’re all human beings. We all make mistakes sometimes. It doesn’t mean that the UFC is bad and we’re unfit for children and all this other stuff. Tell you what: Out of the 375 guys, we’ve got a few lunatics, some guys that are nutty, and then we’ve got 300 and something that are incredible, awesome human beings who are inspirational to kids and adults and whoever else is a human being.”

Now, is this new support for gay fighters a reaction to the New York Culinary Workers Union trying to smear him as a homophobe? Obviously. Coming out as a supporter of gay athletes is the best public defense he could possibly make, now that the Local 226 is contacting the UFC’s sponsors and broadcast partners about the various slurs that White has used in the past, as well as the politically incorrect language used by Quinton Jackson, Michael Bisping, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Joe Rogan.

But I’m not taking the cynical view on this, because for one thing, I don’t believe that Dana White is a homophobe — he’s just one of those guys who grew up in an environment where “faggot” was a stand-in for “pussy,” “coward,” or any broader term of distaste. There are lots of guys like that, and while they could stand to clean up their vocabulary now that we’re deep into the 21st century, using “the other F word” isn’t the best gauge for what’s in a person’s heart. (Opposing gay marriage is a better one. Picketing soldiers’ funerals is another.)

I also think that Dana White understands the power of being associated with the first openly-gay star athlete in sports. MMA is already ahead of the pack on that front, as fighters Shad Smith and Liz Carmouche have discussed their sexual orientation in the past, receiving virtually no backlash from the MMA community at large. But Smith and Carmouche aren’t stars, and if one of the UFC’s well-known contenders or champions publicly came out as gay, it would represent a watershed moment for sports culture — maybe the first falling domino.

Other professional sports haven’t even had their Shad Smiths and Liz Carmouches yet. Will Leitch of New York Magazine wrote a recent column laying out the current cultural barometer regarding homosexuality in pro sports, pointing out that there’s never been a gay star actively playing in any of the four major sports leagues in this country, but the culture is shifting to the point where it now appears imminent. As Charles Barkley himself put it: “I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play…Every college player, every pro player in any sport has probably played with a gay person…I’ve been a big proponent of gay marriage for a long time, because as a black person, I can’t be in for any form of discrimination at all.”

So who wants to be that Gay Jackie Robinson? And what if it’s a big-name UFC fighter? My hope is that such a scenario would help redefine the meathead reputation of MMA, and establish MMA as more progressive and more accepting than other major sports — a great reputation to have as the UFC enters its network television phase. My fear is that fans in general still aren’t ready for it, especially in a sport that can make people uncomfortable enough as it is.

(BG)