Las Vegas Culinary and Bartenders Union workers vote to strike
Workers who keep Las Vegas running will vote later this month on whether to strike.
Powerful unions in the restaurant and bartending industry have announced a strike vote for Sept. 26 as part of ongoing contract negotiations with major hotel and casino chains. The unions represent 53,000 bartenders, housekeepers, cooks and other non-gambling workers at Las Vegas Strip and downtown hotels.
The union said it has not set a deadline for a strike and will continue to negotiate in good faith with the casino chain, as it has done since the last contract expired on June 1. After multiple rounds of negotiations with the Las Vegas Strip's three major employers, MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts, an agreement could not be reached.
The union's top priorities in ongoing negotiations are raising wages, reducing budget quotas and improving worker safety protections. The union said layoffs implemented during the pandemic are continuing even as more tourists return to Las Vegas, meaning employees are taking on heavier workloads to compensate.
“We are negotiating the best contract in Culinary Union history to ensure that one job is enough,” Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Papach said in a release.“Companies are making record profits, and we ask workers not to be left behind and to get their fair share of this success.”
The labor force continues to grow
The possible strike in Las Vegas comes amid a wave of labor disputes nationwide, including the ongoing strike by the Hollywood Writers and Screen Actors Guild and workers at Los Angeles-area hotels. , UPS drivers narrowly avoided a strike in June, and the United Auto Workers are also likely to go on strike when their contracts expire next week.
In the gaming industry, Encore Boston Harbor workers reached a tentative collective agreement this summer ahead of the strike deadline and 1,700 casino workers in Quebec have been under the Canadian government since June The six operating casinos went on strike. Union members said Las Vegas workers are demanding better wages, benefits, workload reductions, technology protections and safety measures.
“Since Since the pandemic, my job has become more difficult and I have been feeling miserable at work." "When I get home, I feel guilty because I don't have the energy to spend time with my son, help him with his homework, and even have no energy some nights. Cook."
Potential Travel Disruption
The union has set up a website, www.vegastravelalert.org, to keep visitors and conference organizers informed of labor disputes that may affect travel plans.
During the last round of contract negotiations in 2018, the culinary union voted to authorize a strike but reached a contract agreement without actually leaving the company. "The Culinary Union won the strongest and most comprehensive immigration, sexual harassment, automation, technology protections and safety language in U.S. union history," the union said in a release.
Unions haven't had to strike lately. But the impact of such a closure could have a devastating impact on the city's recovering economy. In 1984, 17,000 members of the Culinary Union launched a 67-day strike that paralyzed the Las Vegas hotel industry.
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Source: www.casino.org
