More than 53,000 Las Vegas hospitality workers will vote on whether to strike on September 26 if no contract deals are made, according to two of their unions. The Culinary Employees Organization Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of the trade organization Unite Here, represent hospitality employees in Las Vegas, including at the majority of the casino resorts in downtown Las Vegas and on the famed Las Vegas strip. Hotel and casino housekeepers, drink and food servers, porters, bellhops, cooks, and others are among those employed.
Since contracts expired on June 1, the unions said they have had many rounds of negotiations with the main three Las Vegas hotel owners — MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts — but some affected workers are employed by other properties as well. According to a spokeswoman for the Culinary Workers Union, workers, unions, and hotels are now functioning under a contract extension that compels either side to give seven days’ notice if they believe negotiations are fruitless and, in the unions’ case, if a strike may be necessary.
If the hotel workers in Las Vegas go on strike, they will outnumber the 15,000 hotel workers who have been on strike in Los Angeles since July
“We are negotiating for the best contract ever in the Culinary Union’s history to ensure that one job is enough,” Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Workers Union, said in a statement. “Companies are generating record profits and we demand that workers aren’t left behind and have a fair share of that success.”
MGM MGM, -0.16% and Wynn WYNN, -1.43% both posted quarterly financial results that were above analysts’ forecasts last month, while Caesars CZR, -0.69% turned a profit in the second quarter after losing the previous year. According to Pappageorge, the union is concerned about topics such as salaries, benefits, workload reductions, technology protections, safety, the right to strike, and re-engaging additional workers. The union has argued that hotels have continued to adopt pandemic-era methods, resulting in reduced manpower in departments such as housekeeping.
The unions, which are negotiating new five-year contracts, have not made their exact salary requests public. MGM and Caesars did not respond to calls for comment on Thursday, nor did the Las Vegas Hospitality Association. Wynn’s spokeswoman stated the corporation would not comment. The unions have not chosen a date for a strike. If the hotel workers in Las Vegas go on strike, they will outnumber the 15,000 hotel workers who have been on strike in Los Angeles since July.
