Tens of thousands of Las Vegas hospitality workers voted Tuesday to authorize a strike for a new union contract that could affect three dozen casinos and hotels that are the backbone of the city’s economy.
The Culinary Workers Union has not gone on strike in more than three decades.
The union has not set an immediate deadline for a strike as it continues to fight with the Strip’s top casino employers, including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts, over better wages, benefits and Negotiate working conditions.
The strike by Nevada’s largest union would be the latest in a series of high-profile strikes across the country, including in Hollywood. The Culinary Workers union vote came the same day President Joe Biden joined a strike by the United Auto Workers. picket line in Michigan.
Earlier this year, UPS reached new deal before shutdown may seriously disrupt country’s supply chain.
Particularly since the end of the pandemic, workers demanding higher wages, better conditions and job security have become increasingly willing to strike as employers’ demand for workers increases.
In Nevada, the Culinary Union is the largest union, representing approximately 60,000 hotel workers across the state. 40,000 of those members’ contracts recently expired.
“We are the glue that holds these hotels together, and we should get what we deserve,” Deanna Virgil, a longtime employee of the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, told The Associated Press after the vote .
Virgil is one of 53,000 housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, cooks, bartenders and other hotel employees in Las Vegas who are eligible to vote. The union is scheduled to return to the bargaining table next week with MGM Resorts, Caesars Resorts and Wynn Resorts.
MGM Resorts said in a statement late Tuesday that the company has a decades-long history of successful negotiations with unions and believes “both parties are committed to negotiating a contract that works for everyone.”
Caesars did not respond to an emailed request for comment, and Wynn Resorts declined to comment.
Virgil, who has worked in the hospitality industry for 38 years, said her current salary and benefits are enough because she lives with her adult daughter.
“I don’t know what I would do without my daughter’s support,” Virgil said. “A lot of us have two jobs, but one job is enough.”
Union spokesperson Bethany Khan said all members have health insurance and currently make about $26 an hour, including benefits. Khan declined to say how much the union was asking for because “we won’t be negotiating publicly,” although the union said it was asking for “the largest wage increase it has ever negotiated.”
In 1991, more than 500 workers went on strike at the now-closed Frontier Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas. It became one of the longest strikes in American history, lasting more than six years. The union said all strikers later returned to work and received back pay and benefits.
The union last voted to authorize a strike in 2018. The five-year contract was signed soon after a majority of the 25,000 striking hotel workers voted to strike. Rory Kuykendall, 40, said he hoped Tuesday’s vote would have the same effect.
“It’s great to see so many people participating,” said Kuykendall, a waiter at the Las Vegas Flamenco Hotel. “This is an opportunity for all members to step up and show that we are really ready to fight.”
Atlantic City casino unions negotiated last summer landmark contract This gave workers the largest pay increase ever.This also eliminates any chance strike This has been an important consideration for the Atlantic City casino industry for many years because try to return Return to pre-pandemic business levels.
In past contracts, the Atlantic City union has focused on protecting health care and pension benefits, but this time it is seeking a “significant” raise for workers to help them keep up with rising prices for gas, food, rent and other living expenses. , the union said.
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