Culinary Union members have begun picketing Circus Circus Reno to protest a standoff in contract negotiations with parent company Eldorado Resorts.
The contract between the union and Eldorado expired last November, but months of talks have failed to produce any agreement on salaries, health care and retirement benefits for workers.
The Culinary represents 260 employees at Circus Circus, including guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, bartenders, cooks and fitness facility workers.
Wages, in particular, have been a sticking point, according to the Reno Gazette Journal, which said Eldorado’s proposal of a 1.75 percent increase was rejected by the union.
“Eldorado made 9.8 percent more profit last year and their CEO could make $8.8 million this year along,” said Bethany Khan, a Culinary spokeswoman. “But the company will not agree to fair wage increases for its employees. Eldorado needs to stop treating its workers like second-class citizens.”
The company declined to comment, according to the newspaper.
It’s not the first time Eldorado, which acquired full ownership of Circus Circus Reno from MGM Resorts International in 2015𑁋a deal that included Reno’s Silver Legacy Resort Casino𑁋has come under fire from organized labor.
Last year, local unions criticized the company for going outside Nevada to hire renovation specialists Digney York to perform work at Circus Circus. The Virginia-based firm later was cited by OSHA for two violations at the property involving asbestos handling and insufficient training and also was fined by the Nevada State Board of Contractors for employing unlicensed contractors.
