Petersburg mayor says gaming union is threatening to sue 'with no regard' for citizens

PETERSBURG – Mayor Sam Parham drew a line in the sand with a hospitality union over its threat to sue the city, calling its claims “baseless” and adding that if the suit is filed, the city would see the union in court with the tables turned.

In an exclusive statement to The Progress-Index Tuesday afternoon, the mayor said Petersburg “did everything by the book” in agreeing April 24 to accept The Cordish Companies and Bruce Smith Enterprise’s $1.4 billion to build a casino-anchored mixed-use community on 92 acres of land off Wagner Road. The 7-0 vote that followed a 90-minute closed session last week sparked intense criticism over the legitimacy of the vote, especially from the sponsor of the legislation that is bringing a November casino referendum to Petersburg.

Late Tuesday morning, the Unite Here Local 25 hospitality workers union said it planned to sue Petersburg over the decision, alleging the entire process of discussing and voting violated the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. UHL25 said Petersburg transacted the business without any public input into the decision or any effort to advise the public that the closed-session discussion and the open-session vote were going to take place.

"Unite Here has no regard for citizens of our city and they have been blocking this project for well over two years, costing the city tens of millions in tax revenue and thousands of jobs for our citizens,” Parham said in his statement. If UHL25 follows through with the suit, Parham promised the city will respond with litigation of its own that he claimed could damage the union’s reputation.

“Unite Here’s threats are baseless and will be met by not only a counter suit against U. H. for damages and for orchestrating a wide-ranging conspiracy to damage the city, but also detailed legal discovery which will reveal Unite Here’s real intentions and method of operation,” he said.

Parham did not elaborate on what that legal discovery would include.

UHL25, which represents 8,000 workers in Virginia’s hospitality and gaming industry, vehemently opposed Petersburg’s bid last year alongside Cordish to land the referendum. It said Cordish does not have a history of fair bargaining with unionized workers and that any deal with Petersburg would also tarnish the city as labor unfriendly. The union backed Richmond’s two bids to get the central Virginia-based casino business, but both times, the issue failed on referendums.

The last two Petersburg efforts were led by now-former Sen. Joe Morrissey, a polarizing political figure in the General Assembly. Sen. Lashrecse Aird, a former Petersburg delegate, defeated Morrissey in a June 2023 Democratic primary and then coasted to victory in the November 2023 election.

She, too, has been very critical of the Cordish decision, saying it essentially was done in a vacuum without any forethought for input from Petersburg citizens.

UHL25 endorsed Aird in that Democratic primary.

City Council has scheduled a closed session for 4 p.m. May 1. According to the agenda for that meeting, the Virginia code section governing the choice of a casino operator by a host city.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg mayor responds to casino union's threatened lawsuit