Culinary Union Settles With More Vegas Properties Ahead of Monday’s Threatened Strike

Posted on: February 4, 2024, 03:42h. 

Last updated on: February 4, 2024, 03:42h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More

Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Only three resort-casinos need to reach a tentative contract with hospitality workers just hours before a planned Culinary Union walkout on Monday.

These include Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino, and Golden Nugget Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.

In recent days, Culinary Union members and management at Fremont Hotel & Casino, the Rio Hotel & Casino, Main Street Station Casino, Brewery & Hotel, Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel, and the Four Queens Resort and Casino reached tentative five-year contracts.

Last week, the union also settled with the Sahara Las Vegas and El Cortez Hotel and Casino.

Details on the new tentative contracts have yet to be released to the public. Each of the agreements still need to be approved by rank-and-file workers before they go into effect.

Monday Strike Deadline

Members of the Culinary Union and the Bartenders Union have warned they may go on strike at 5 a.m. PT on Monday at the three properties without a tentative contract in place.

The possible strike would occur just days before Super Bowl LVIII, to be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 11. Las Vegas is expecting many visitors for the big game and related events.

Historic Contracts

Over recent months, the union has settled with three casino companies, Wynn Resorts, Caesar Entertainment, and MGM Resorts International.

Under the contracts with the three companies, every worker will receive a 10% wage increase in the first year of the deal. They will get 32% in salary increases over the life of the contract.

We’ve been working hard since last year to win historic contracts, but we aren’t done yet. It’s time for workers to get a fair contract and have security for themselves and their families,” Ted Pappageorge, the Culinary Union’s secretary-treasurer, said in a recent statement.

“Workers at the other [Las Vegas] Strip independents and downtown deserve the same wage increases, benefit protections, safety and technology language, and reductions in workloads as the rest of the Las Vegas Strip and they are organized and ready to fight for it,” Pappageorge added.

No one wants to strike, but workers are serious and will strike if they have to and the Culinary Union has their back every step of the way.”

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 has some 60K members. They include bartenders, bellmen, cocktail and food servers, cooks, guest room attendants, laundry and kitchen workers, and porters.