Union Organized by Vegas's Food Industry to Stage Demonstrations at Caesars and MGM Resorts Next Week
In a bold move, Culinary Workers Union Local 226, representing a hefty 53,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas, is creeping towards the edge of a monumental strike. On Monday, the union fired things up, rallying its troops to join protests outside eight casino resorts to pressure the owners to sit down and talk contract.
On Thursday, Oct. 12, unions have organized two-hour "informational" picket lines, set to start at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. outside Park MGM, Paris Las Vegas, and The Linq. The picketers are expected to subsequently move to the sidewalks in front of Harrah's, Flamingo, Horseshoe, Planet Hollywood, and New York-New York, with workers planning to join in before or after their work shifts. The union has issued a call for support asking the public not to frequent casino resorts during an active picket line.
With a past tinted with historical significance, Culinary Local 226's strike trailbacks to 1984 when over 17,000 union workers, alongside three other unions, staged what the union typified as "one of the largest strikes in Las Vegas history." This labor action took an impressive 67 days to resolve.
Current negotiations are ongoing between the union and big-hitting Strip employers, namely MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts. Ted Pappageorge, the union's secretary-treasurer, expressed his frustrations regarding the negotiation progress in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday.
No specific strike deadline has been outlined as yet, but last month, an astonishing 95% of Las Vegas restaurant and hotel workers voted in favor of authorizing a strike prior to the expiration of their existing contracts. Approximately 40,000 union members are currently laboring under expired contracts, putting them in the running to spearhead any strike action.
The union has highlighted an "active labor dispute with 18 casino properties across the Las Vegas Strip," indicating their ability to call a strike at any given moment. The union's primary focus remains on MGM and Caesars properties, advocating for revised no-strike clauses within the contracts to empower the union to take strike action against non-union restaurants situated on union properties, a requirement not applicable to Wynn.
Key issues in the negotiations also encompass hefty wage and benefit increases, improved safety protocols, technology integration, as well as workload reduction for guest room attendants.
- In the heart of Las Vegas, the ongoing standoff between Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and casino giants like MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts, over wage increases, safety protocols, and other concerns, promises to bring a vibrant new chapter to the city's casino-and-gambling culture.
- As the clock ticks and the union's strike deadline looms, supporters are encouraged to avoid bets in the affected casino resorts, such as Park MGM, Paris Las Vegas, and The Linq, in solidarity with the 40,000 union members working under expired contracts, who have voted to boycott work once the contracts expire.
