CASINO workers’ Culinary Union Local 226 and Caesars Entertainment, one of the largest resort operators in Las Vegas, reached a tentative labour agreement on Friday that would cover about a quarter of the 50,000 employees threatening the first citywide strike in more than 30 years.
The new five-year deal with Caesars Entertainment covers about 12,000 bartenders, housekeepers, kitchen workers and others at nine casino-resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, Local 226 said. It declined to provide details because workers have not approved the contract, but generally both sides agreed to wage increases and stronger language against sexual harassment.
Culinary Union secretary-treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline said: ‘We feel very good about the contract. ‘We feel like the company got what they need for their business to continue, and we feel like we can still provide the American dream for the members.’
The tentative deal came just after tens of thousands of bartenders, housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks and other kitchen workers saw their contracts expire. At the time of writing the union had yet to reach new agreements with MGM Resorts International and other smaller casino-hotel operators on the Strip and in downtown Las Vegas.
The main sticking points have been wages, workplace training and job security as casino-hotels turn to technology that can displace workers, the union says. Workers want contract language that would protect them if properties are sold, and an independent workload study for housekeepers.
Kimberly Ireland, bell desk dispatcher at The Mirage, said: ‘Technology is being heavily introduced in the casino industry, and unfortunately, they are not investing in us. ‘MGM Resorts International has not agreed to any of our terms pertaining to job security, safety, our housekeeping study, so we are prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure that we secure our future.’
The labour contracts of 50,000 workers at Las Vegas’ Strip and downtown casinos expired at midnight last Thursday, raising the prospect of a strike by 50,000 casino workers. The Culinary Union said in a statement early Friday that hospitality workers were now ‘preparing for a citywide strike’ and planned to begin making ‘thousands of strike picket signs.’
Dozens of workers gathered on Friday to put together bilingual picket signs reading ‘Las Vegas hotel and restaurant workers, MGM Resorts, on strike.’ The walls of what they christened as their strike headquarters had maps of properties operated by MGM with the entrances clearly marked. Workers were getting ready to picket outside casino-hotels still in negotiations, including Aria, Bellagio and Mandalay Bay.
The union asked MGM and Caesars for annual raises of about 4% for the next five years while the casinos have countered with 2.7% to 2.8% per cent, documents released by the union said. Around 24,000 workers are affected under the MGM contract. Despite the tentative deal, Caesars Entertainment Corporation and MGM Resorts International — as well as other properties including Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, the MGM Grand, Excalibur and Luxor — are all potentially affected.
Bethany Khan, director of communications at the Culinary Workers Union, said: ‘We know that many hospitality jobs are slated to be automated in the next coming years, so we want to make sure that we’re innovative and thinking about how we can protect workers and their jobs ‘Our automation and technology proposals deal with protecting workers. ‘We know technology is coming and we want to make sure that workers are protected and have a say in how technology is implemented in their workplace.’
On May 22, UNITE HERE’s Culinary and Bartenders Unions, which represent over 57,000 hospitality workers in Las Vegas and Reno, held a strike authorisation vote. Of the 25,000 members who participated, 99 per cent voted to authorise a strike if a new contract isn’t signed by June 1. If the strike takes place, 50,000 employees at 34 casino resorts in Las Vegas—including most of the waiting staff, bartenders, kitchen workers, and hotel employees who work on the strip—will walk off the job.
A union statement said: ‘Members of UNITE HERE’s Culinary and Bartenders Unions have voted to authorise a citywide strike. 25,000 union members participated in two voting sessions throughout the day (May 22, 2018) and 99% voted yes. ‘Union contracts covering 50,000 union workers expire on June 1, 2018 at 34 casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.
‘50,000 hospitality employees who are preparing to go out on strike after June 1 include: Bartenders, guest room attendants, cocktail servers, food servers, porters, bellman, cooks, and kitchen workers employed at the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.’
Geoconda Argüello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union, said: ‘A strike is a last resort. We want to come to an agreement, but the union and workers are preparing for a citywide strike if contracts are not settled by June 1. ‘We support innovations that improve jobs, but we oppose automation when it only destroys jobs. ‘Our industry must innovate without losing the human touch. That’s why employers should work with us to stay strong, fair, and competitive.’
Chad Neanover, a prep cook at the Margaritaville, a Caesars Entertainment property, said: ‘I voted yes to go on strike to ensure my job isn’t outsourced to a robot. ‘We know technology is coming, but workers shouldn’t be pushed out or left behind. ‘Casino companies should ensure that technology is harnessed to improve the quality and safety in the workplace, not as a way to completely eliminate our jobs.
‘I don’t want to go on strike, but I will,’ said Adela Montes de Oca, a guest room attendant at the Aria, an MGM Resorts International property. ‘The company is more profitable than ever because of the hard work we do, and I’m going to keep fighting to make sure that we have a fair share of that success.’
UNITE HERE said: ‘The Culinary and Bartenders Unions are negotiating new contract language to provide greater measure of security for members including workplace safety, sexual harassment, subcontracting, technology, and immigration. ‘In addition, the Union’s economic proposal seeks to provide workers a fair share of the employers’ enormous anticipated cash flows and Trump tax windfalls.
‘In 1984, thousands of Culinary Union members went on a citywide strike across the Las Vegas Strip for 67 days which crippled in the Las Vegas hospitality industry until contracts were settled. ‘The Culinary and Bartenders Unions are encouraging Nevada locals, elected officials, political candidates, and tourists to support workers by not patronising hotels and casinos in case there is a labour dispute on or after June 1, 2018. In an event of a strike, please do not cross picket lines.’