Summary:
- The Culinary Workers Union has not gone on strike in over 30 years.
- A deadline has not been set for the walkout.
- The union is negotiating with casinos for better pay, benefits, and working conditions.
The city of Las Vegas may be hit with a strike if the Culinary Workers Union does not receive a new contract with casinos in Nevada. Yesterday, tens of thousands of union members voted to authorize a strike due to stalled negotiations.
Major Operations Impact Ahead
If the strike were to take place, it would affect over 36 hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. The Culinary Workers Union has not gone on strike in over 30 years and only voted to this time around due to negotiations stalling with top casinos.
A deadline has not been set for the pending strike, as the union is hopeful that bargaining will end. The union wants to see employees earn better pay as well as benefits. Working conditions also need to be improved.
Casino employers such as Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts have yet to reach an agreement with the union. Currently, there are already several strikes taking place across the country that the Culinary Union would join, including the writer’s strike in Hollywood and the United Auto Workers strike in Michigan.
Employees want better options overall as they have worked tirelessly through the pandemic, and casino revenues are on the rise. The employees are now willing to walk out as employers need workers more than ever.
Contracts are Expired
In Nevada, the Culinary Union represents around 60,000 individuals in the hospitality industry. Contracts for around 40,000 are now expired. The employees are essential, helping to keep the hotels operational as well as other services, and those in the industry feel they should be paid what they deserve.
53,000 individuals in the Union are eligible to vote, and now a strike is imminent. The Union is supposed to meet with MGM, Wynn, and Caesars again next week to start discussing options yet again. MGM Resorts said that it has a successful history in bargaining with the unions and believes that both groups are willing to negotiate a contract that will be good for everyone involved.
Caesars and Wynn Resorts have yet to comment. Now, it boils down to if the operators will get a new contract in place before the strike is set. We should see a deadline posted, possibly by next week, as negotiations begin again. Once a hard deadline is set, it will push the casino operators to make changes in order to have a contract in place and avoid a major stoppage of services in Las Vegas.
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