LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Culinary Union has scheduled a vote on Tuesday, Sept. 26, to authorize a strike in Las Vegas.
Contract negotiations between resorts and the powerful union have been negotiating after the current agreement expired in early June. The union has not set a strike deadline.
A Thursday announcement from Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 reported that negotiations are continuing with all gaming companies “in good faith.” The unions represent 53,000 hospitality workers.
The strike authorization vote will be conducted in two sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening.
“The public is advised to avoid the Las Vegas Strip and Tropicana Avenue (near Thomas & Mack and the Harry Reid International Airport) as tens of thousands of shift workers are expected to attend one of the two sessions and cast their votes,” the union said in a press release.
The state reported its largest gaming win in history in July, bringing in $1.4 billion in a single month.
On Aug. 1, Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg dismissed concerns over negotiations. “I’d expect that we’ll have new agreements by the fall and I’m not expecting a whole lot of drama around them,” he said.
A day later, MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle told investors, “The big thing that’s going to impact us is wage.” Pay adjustments for housekeepers will likely add to labor costs going forward, he said. Hornbuckle remained positive, noting there hasn’t been a strike since the 1980s.
A union leader said the resorts and the unions aren’t close to an agreement.
“It’s disappointing that we are still so far apart from the casinos after months of negotiations with the largest three gaming companies in Las Vegas,” Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union, said. “Wages, benefits, workload reductions, technology protections, safety, bringing more workers back to work, and the right to strike are all strike issues and workers will be voting on Sept. 26.
“We are negotiating for the best contract ever in the Culinary Union’s history to ensure that one job is enough. Companies are generating record profits and we demand that workers aren’t left behind and have a fair share of that success,” Pappageorge said.
“As companies reduce labor, there are less workers who have even more responsibilities and are doing more work instead of spending quality time with their families, and that has to change. Workers have built this industry and made it successful and that’s why we are demanding that workers share in that prosperity,” he said.
