The Santa Fe was involved in a labor dispute with Culinary Workers Union that began in 1993 and lasted into 2000, when the resort was sold to Station Casinos.

In 1989, Paul Lowden, the head of Sahara Casino Partners Limited (later Santa Fe Gaming Corporation), had plans to build a hotel-casino in northwest Las Vegas.

[2] The southwestern-themed[3] Santa Fe was built at 4949 North Rancho Drive,[4] on 36 acres (15 ha) of land east of and directly alongside U.S. Route 95.

[3] The Santa Fe included a 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) casino with slot machines, table games, a poker room, a sportsbook, and bingo.

[16] A renovation of the hotel rooms was underway in July 1999, and there was the possibility of future improvements, including more parking spaces and slot machines, a larger buffet, and a new restaurant.

The third phase would include a 2,400-space parking garage, a 12-screen movie theater, a child-care center, and a nightclub, as well as an additional 1,000 slot machines and 18 table games.

[19] In January 2001, the ongoing renovations were expanded to include the addition of 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) in casino space, allowing for 750 new slot machines.

[27] Ultimately, Station Casinos was fined $2.2 million for its failure to file hundreds of federal government financial reports relating to its properties, including the Santa Fe.

[5] In March 2007, the Santa Fe Station opened a new casino pit with additional blackjack and craps tables, and offered mini-baccarat for the first time.

[45] In October 1993, employees of the hotel-casino voted to accept representation from Culinary Workers Union, a decision that was opposed by Santa Fe officials.

[49] The labor dispute related to health insurance coverage; and to higher wages, which the Santa Fe stated it was unable to afford.

[48] The dispute and negotiations continued into the following year, at which point the union accused the Santa Fe of intentionally delaying the completion of a contract.

[49] The dispute was ongoing when Station Casinos announced its plans to purchase the Santa Fe, and the union hoped that the company would be willing to negotiate a contract for the property's 700-800 union-eligible employees.

[53] The Culinary Workers Union opposed Station Casinos' plan to make the Santa Fe's employees reapply for their jobs.

[20] In mid-September 2000, an employment center for the Santa Fe Station was opened and received 400 applications in its first day, with 90 percent of those being current employees of the resort.

[19][21] At that time, the Nevada Gaming Control Board rejected Culinary's request that regulators require Station Casinos to reverse its termination of the Santa Fe's employees.

[19] Later in the month, the Las Vegas City Council rejected a request from the union to mandate that Station Casinos retain a certain number of Santa Fe employees.

Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman was initially supportive of the union's efforts but stated, "As the law presently exists, we can't impose a condition that these folks be retained.

"[53] The Nevada Gaming Commission subsequently rejected a regulation proposed by the union which would restrict employee layoffs whenever casinos are sold.

[52] In 2002, a former Santa Fe employee alleged that he was beaten on the property's parking lot in 1996 because of his prior Culinary union organizing activities and was subsequently fired for missing too much work as the result of his injuries.