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VEGAS INC chris morris ATLANTIC CITY COCKTAIL WAITRESSES WARN CULINARY UNION MEMBERS COCKTAILs, From page 1 simply deliver drinks. And they have only 6 1/2 minutes to do it. Waitresses must activate a timer to ensure they meet their deadline. Sometimes they have to travel the length of a football field to get a customer his drink. The new system leaves practically no time for interaction, the part of a cocktail waitress's job that's most vital to making money, they say. "I loved my job," Davis said. "It's not the same job anymore." "We don't want to be reduced to running drinks to the customer," said Aretha Wilder, a third-generation cocktail waitress who has worked for 20 years at the Flamingo. Caesars now hopes to bring beverage ambassadors to all of its Las Vegas properties, according to Culinary Union officials. For now, they are only at the Quad, where workers aren't represented by the union. 16 20130930_VI01_F.indd 16 Caesars executives say the ambassador job is about "enhancing service to guests" and making beverage service more efficient. The process is faster than traditional service, Caesars spokeswoman Michelle Monson said. Cocktail waitresses "prefer utilizing the iPad system through a beverage ambassador over traditional beverage service," Monson added. But grumbling among waitresses in Atlantic City prompted union officials there to petition Gaming Enforcement, claiming the beverage ambassador program violates state liquor laws. Union officials hope their petition, delivered Sept. 12, will prompt Caesars to eliminate the program. Cocktail waitresses complain that beverage ambassadors cost them tips. Local union officials say servers' tips have plummeted 40 percent since the program began, from about $150 a night to $90. Beverage ambassadors don't receive tips from customers or cocktail waitresses, but they do cut down on the time cocktail waitresses spend "I was always one who was a hustler. That's what I wanted to be. I could talk $5 out of a guy who would give me 50 cents. Now when my customers stop me, I'm like 'Oh, really sorry. I have to get back to the bar.' " — EVE DAVIS, Cocktail waitress AT the SHOWBOAT in Atlantic city with guests, which tends to make the customers tip less, the servers say. Caesars, however, contends that beverage ambassadors boost cocktail waitresses' pay. "Tips have increased for casino beverage servers as a result of employing beverage ambassadors, due to more beverages being served on the casino floor, creating more tipping opportunities," Monson said. Gary Thompson, Caesars' president of public affairs, said tip data is anecdotal. "Some girls claim they make more money," Davis said. "That's not true for me and a majority of the girls." Another concern among waitresses is losing track of customers. Because servers don't greet guests under the beverage ambassador model, they don't know what they look like. If customers move after ordering, cocktail waitresses often can't find them. Davis said the confusion leads to lots of wasted | 30 SEPTEMBER 2013 | 9/26/13 2:10:01 PM