Culinary workers build 'wall' of taco trucks outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas
A fleet of taco trucks made a 鈥渨all鈥� in front of the聽Trump International Hotel聽in Las Vegas on Wednesday, in a celebration of immigrant labor that twinned one protest against Donald Trump鈥檚 candidacy with another against the hotel鈥檚 refusal to enter into negotiations with newly unionized culinary workers.
Held just a few miles from the site of Wednesday night鈥檚 debate, the rally made light of Mr. Trump鈥檚 promise to build a wall spanning the length of the southern border, as well Trump supporter Marco Gutierrez's remark that if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency there will be 鈥渢aco trucks on every corner.鈥� On hand were Reverend Jesse Jackson and several dozen activists and organizers with union, immigrant advocacy and Latino voter registration groups from across the region, .
The event also highlighted an ongoing battle between the hotel鈥檚 management and the Culinary Workers Union, which represents the roughly 500 housekeeping and culinary employees who were granted union status by the National Labor Relations Board in March. Management is appealing the ruling.
"The reason we are out there is, for the last year now Trump has with workers who won a union election at his hotel," Yvanna Cancela, political director of Culinary Workers Union 226, told NBC. "The biggest message we have sent to him is he needs to come to the negotiation table."
The union鈥檚 dispute may be local in scope, but its implications are national: The union is Nevada鈥檚 largest, and it yields formidable clout in turning out the Latino vote, in a year when Latino political power is coming under the lens.
鈥淭he culinary union is the in this state,鈥� Nevada political analyst Jon Ralston told The New York Times in July. 鈥淚t is the Hispanic turnout organization. The fact that they can use Trump both as a business and a political organizing tool is going to help them in both arenas.鈥�
Nevada is one of several states in which Latino candidates are seeking to mark firsts for Hispanic representation in Congress. Former state attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto for an open Senate seat; if she prevails, she would become the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the chamber.
It鈥檚 unclear what kind of political force can be summoned among Latino voters, whose 聽those of other ethnic groups. Even this year, as reactionary sentiment to Hispanics鈥� growth as a demographic has flourished, Hispanic voters have been less engaged in the election than other groups, with smaller percentages saying that they follow news about it closely or give it a lot of thought. And polls reach mixed conclusions when it comes to voter turnout on Nov. 8.
What鈥檚 certain is that voter-registration groups are getting plenty of mileage out of the 鈥渢aco truck鈥� comments by Mr. Gutierrez, who is the founder of Latinos for Trump. Groups around the country are using taco trucks to lure potential voters who haven鈥檛 registered yet.
In Houston, for example, Mi Familia Vota has partnered with designer Thomas Hull for a food truck voter drive, with eight trucks plying the streets.
鈥淚t was offensive to some,鈥� Mr. Hull in reference to Gutierrez鈥檚 comments. 鈥淎t the same time, those of us who live here in Texas find it humorous because there are taco trucks on every corner and we love them.鈥�
