Las Vegas Casinos Avoid Labor Strikes With New Union Deals
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After facing a Friday strike deadline, Las Vegas’s three largest casino companies reached agreements this week with members of the Culinary and Bartenders union. Representatives reached tentative five-year deals with Caesars Entertainment on Wednesday, MGM Resorts on Thursday, and Wynn Resorts three hours before the Friday deadline.
The deals affect housekeepers, bartenders, servers, bellmen and other workers at 18 properties across the city, including major Strip casinos like Caesars Palace, Bellagio, and Wynn. Union officials hailed the plan, which still has to be approved by members.
“After seven months of negotiations, we are proud to say that this is the best contract and economic package we have ever won in our 88-year history,” Culinary Union secretary-treasurer Ted Pappageorge said.
“With this new union contract, hospitality workers will be able to provide for their families and thrive in Las Vegas and we applaud Caesars Entertainment, a company with which we have had one of the longest relationships in the city, for stepping up. It’s notable that this company took a major leadership role by going first, which was the right thing to do for their employees, our community, and for Las Vegas.”
Details On The Agreement
The deal comes at a critical time for casinos as the Las Vegas Grand Prix Formula 1 race is set for Nov. 16-18. The festivities are expected to bring in 100,000 visitors per day. Having 35,000 union hospitality walk off the job would have left the properties in a major bind.
The new contracts offer workers significant raises each year for the next five years, according to the union. Other parts of the deal include:
- preserving quality union health insurance
- preserving the union pension and benefits
- improvements in housekeeping workload reductions
- improvements regarding worker safety concerns
- input in how technology impacts workers
MGM may have reached a deal with Las Vegas employees, but the company still faces a work stoppage in Michigan. Detroit’s three casinos have seen 3,700 casino workers from five unions on strike since Oct. 17. The work stoppage affects the MGM Grand Detroit, Hollywood at Greektown, and MotorCity casinos.
