But the 8 News Now Investigators also learned that the previous land deal the A’s struck just a couple weeks ago with Station Casinos was killed partly because the powerful Culinary Union wouldn’t support that site. Some of that company’s casinos aren’t unionized.

The Culinary Union has said Tropicana workers will be protected when the property closes. Workers will have “additional compensation, health care coverage, and pension benefits while the property is closed for development,” according to a union statement this week. The closure will last 18 to 24 months, and will affect about 1,200 employees.