It’s hardly news that Station Casinos and the Culinary Union have long been at loggerheads here in Vegas over the company’s anti-union stance. (Unlike some of its competitors, Station has been too smart to engage in the sort of confrontational behavior that has roiled management-employee tensions elsewhere in town — at least not since its massive purges at the Santa Fe and Fiesta, six years ago.) Having been effectively stalemated, if not checkmated, in the Vegas area, the Culinary is taking the fight north.

Station is bracing to battle an initiative that could thwart its two announced Reno projects, should it make the November ballot. Any new casino development outside the downtown Reno corridor would have to be put to voters, if the initiative qualifies and passes. Both of Station’s planned casino sites — including a small one across from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center — are well outside of downtown.

Taking umbrage at the Culinary’s underwriting of the petition drive, Station is vowing to fight tooth and nail to keep the measure off the ballot. While the initiative may be the Culinary’s Trojan Horse, Station’s allies (which include the local chamber of commerce, other Reno casino operators and the Nevada Resort Association) aren’t what you’d call a “grass-roots movement,” either.

Perhaps the funniest aspect of the whole thing is the huffy reader response to the Reno Gazette-Journal’s coverage, wherein some Foghorn Leghorn type brands the Culinary “a group of scoundrels,” concluding with a stemwinder that Reno must be allowed “to grow as we see fit and without outside influence from a bunch of idiots from out of town.” As opposed, apparently, to the internal influence of nearby businesses like Station Casinos … headquartered in Summerlin.

While Station is fending off a frontal assault in Reno, it may be vulnerable to a flanking maneuver by UNITE HERE Local 49, according to the Sacramento Business Journal. Workers at the tribal Cache Creek Casino Resort just re-ratified their union contract.

What’s this got to do with Station? Local 49 is now looking to unionize the Sacramento-area Thunder Valley Casino — managed by Station. It’s primarily a matter between Local 49 and the United Auburn Indian Community, which is officially taking a neutral stance. But if one Station-run property goes union, it’s a precedent, however small.