Union: Strike would cost top Vegas casinos over $10M a day

Showdown this week:

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The two largest resort operators in Las Vegas would lose more than $10 million a day combined if housekeepers, cooks and others go on strike, a possibility starting Friday, the union representing thousands of casino workers said Wednesday.


The Culinary Union detailed how it thinks a one-month strike would impact MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, which operate more than half the properties that would be affected if 50,000 workers walk off the job. Workers last week voted to authorize a strike as disputes over workplace training, wages and other issues have kept the union and casino operators from agreeing on new contracts.

Las Vegas, NV - In a survey conducted by UNITE HERE’s Culinary and Bartender Unions of over 10,000 Las Vegas casino workers: 59% of cocktail servers and 27% of hotel housekeepers said they had been sexually harassed by guests, managers or others while on the job. 72% of cocktail servers and 53% of hotel housekeepers said a guest had done something to make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

The Culinary Union, Nevada’s largest union, is actively reaching out to Las Vegas tourists and asking them to pledge to not sexually harass Las Vegas casino workers while they are visiting. Other UNITE HERE locals will be leafleting the pledge at major airports around the country. The pledge is available on the Culinary Union’s Vegas Travel Alert website: www.VegasTravelAlert.org/Pledge


The results of the survey and worker concerns led the Culinary and Bartenders Unions to propose stronger safety protections in current contract negotiations for 50,000 workers in 34 casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. The contracts expire midnight May 31, 2018.


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, including properties operated by MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Penn National, Golden Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, and other companies.

The 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.



http://m.culinaryunion226.org/news/...ng-on-visitors-to-not-sexually-harass-workers

Did Vegas ever suffer a possible strike like this before?

The Computer Group said:

Did Vegas ever suffer a possible strike like this before?

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Yea,it was way back when the Frontier was there,and it was a nasty negotiation from what i remember.The culinary union,and bartenders,etc like you said were picketing up and down the sidewalk right in front of the Frontier Hotel & Casino,and at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino which is where my friend worked as one of the chefs there,..But that is the only one i can recall at the moment

thekeyman said:

Yea,it was way back when the Frontier was there,and it was a nasty negotiation from what i remember.The culinary union,and bartenders,etc like you said were picketing up and down the sidewalk right in front of the Frontier Hotel & Casino,and at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino which is where my friend worked as one of the chefs there,..But that is the only one i can recall at the moment

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Will be interesting to follow this story........

I hope the Union negotiates a good deal for the workers....put those resort and parking fees towards the workers.....

thekeyman said:

Yea,it was way back when the Frontier was there,and it was a nasty negotiation from what i remember.The culinary union,and bartenders,etc like you said were picketing up and down the sidewalk right in front of the Frontier Hotel & Casino,and at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino which is where my friend worked as one of the chefs there,..But that is the only one i can recall at the moment

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Somewhere around 1980 if I remember correctly...maybe 80 or 81....

The Elardi family owned the frontier in the 90's. Culinary was on strike with the frontier from 1991 to 1998. 24/7 they picketed in front of the Hotel for seven years. When Phil Ruffin bought the Hotel in 98 the culinary ended the strike.
Ruffin made one of the shrewdest deals in Las Vegas history. He bought the Frontier in 98, his first ever casino for 165 million and sold it in 2007 for 1.2 billion. Yes he made more than a billion dollars in 9 years on his first casino purchase. Nice! By the way he sold at the absolute top in strip real estate prices.

[h=1]Las Vegas casino workers prepare for 'citywide strike' after contracts expire[/h]

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."