Hotel officials with major Las Vegas casino company approve contract
Unionized employees at Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment approved new labor contracts this week. Next, Culinary Union turns its attention to an additional 24 Las Vegas hotels.
Ted Papagiorgi, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, warned of the possibility of a strike if future negotiations failed to reach a satisfactory deal for the roughly 10,000 workers at two dozen more hotel-casinos.
I think we’re going to have some tough negotiations with these properties,” Las Vegas television station KTNV quoted Pappageorge as saying.
Pappageorge hopes to apply the same economic package negotiated with the three companies to contracts for other properties on the Las Vegas Strip.
When it comes to downtown Las Vegas real estate, the union advocates for the same wage increases. Downtown properties have traditionally paid workers lower wages than hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
Wynn vote
On Wednesday, Wynn's unionized employees voted overwhelmingly, 99%, in favor of a tentative agreement.
The five-year contract includes a $3-an-hour raise for non-tipped workers, KTNV reported. Employees who receive tips will receive about half of the raise, KTNV reported.
"We got the best raise we've ever had," Wynn Food Services employee Samson Edea told KTNV.
The new contract covers about 5,000 Wynn union employees.
The deal for Wynn, MGM and Caesars will result in a 10% raise for hotel employees in the first year of the deal, according to the Culinary Alliance. You'll receive cumulative increases of 32% over the life of the contract.
The contract includes housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, doormen, cooks, bartenders and laundry and kitchen workers at the property.
Culinary Union representatives initially approved the ratified contract after months of meetings with management. An impending strike on November 10 was averted with a short-term settlement.
Salary increase
Under the previous contract, the average Culinary Union member earned approximately $28 per hour (including his benefits), and at the end of this new five-year contract, the average Culinary Union member will earn approximately $37 per hour ( including his additional income) benefits)," Papachi said in a statement.
“Throughout the five-year agreement, Culinary Union received approximately $2 billion in total compensation from MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts employees.”
Nationwide, Detroit workers at Greektown Hollywood Casino and Motor City Casino recently voted to approve a five-year contract to resolve the strike. Workers at MGM Grand Casino continue to strike.
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Source: www.casino.org
