MGM Resorts employees overwhelmingly approve new contract
Hotel employees at the MGM Resorts in Las Vegas voted strongly in favor of a new collective bargaining agreement on Tuesday. When the votes were counted, 99% of Culinary Union members voted in favor of the five-year contract.
The contract provides pay increases and improved working conditions for approximately 25,400 employees in the hospitality industry.
One of the workers, Bellagio cocktail waitress Melissa Peterson, called the new contract “amazing for everyone who works here.”
"It's a morale booster for all my colleagues. We're all happy," she was quoted as saying by Las Vegas television station KTNV. "
Salary increase
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal , every employee at the Culinary Union facility will receive a 10 percent raise in the first year of the agreement. This goes back to June last year.
Overall, that would be a 32% increase over five years, according to Review-Journal.
Union workers covered by the MGM contract include housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, janitors, cooks, bartenders and laundry and kitchen workers.
Risks brought by technology
It was announced this week that under the agreement, MGM Properties will be required to provide six months' notice if the new technology results in job losses, KTNV reported.
Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, flagged potential workplace risks associated with artificial intelligence.
AI is learning, and if it’s introduced now and it doesn’t have an impact, and AI comes later and potentially eliminates jobs, we can go back and start using our language,” Papachi told reporters on Tuesday.KTNV Report.
The contract also provides more training opportunities for union workers, many of whom are working to advance their careers.
On Monday, workers at the Caesars Entertainment hotel overwhelmingly approved their new contract. Wynn Resorts hotel officials are scheduled to vote on a tentative agreement Wednesday.
The Las Vegas contract was originally reached by Culinary Alliance representatives after months of meetings with management.10 Threatened to strike. November can be avoided by short-term comparisons.
If the Wynn workers' contract is approved, the next step for the culinary union will be negotiations with other Las Vegas operations. 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.
Across the country in Detroit, workers at the Greektown Hollywood Casino and Motor City Casino voted over the weekend to approve a five-year contract. Workers at MGM Grand Casino continue to strike.
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Source: www.casino.org
