Strike vote possible March 27
The Stratosphere and LVH resorts in Las Vegas have reached tentative agreements with the Culinary and Bartenders unions. The two resorts follow a number of others that have come to terms with the unions, including MGM and Caesars, and stand-alone casinos including the Riviera, Tropicana and Treasure Island.
Union membership is stronger by about 800, with workers at the Quad agreeing to join the two unions, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The former Imperial Palace is owned by Caesars. Workers there did not seek union membership because the property was supposed to have been torn down.
The rechristened Quad opened under its new name in 2012 as part of Caesars’ Linq development on the Las Vegas Strip. With the new agreement, only the Cromwell does not have an organized workforce, the Review-Journal reported. The 40,000-square-foot casino and 188-room hotel is set to open May 21.
Negotiations continue with 10 other properties. The unsettled resorts could face a walkout if they do not come to terms with the Culinary, which set a March 27 deadline?postponed from March 20?to authorize a strike vote.
The outstanding casinos include the Fremont, Main Street Station, Four Queens, Binion’s, Plaza, the D, the Golden Nugget, El Cortez, the Golden Gate and Margaritaville; the latter is the only Strip-area casino not to sign a new agreement. In total, the city’s independent casinos employ about 6,000 hospitality workers, according to the Miami Herald.
“We are not done because the thousands of workers downtown and in the laundries do not have new contracts yet,” Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline said in a statement. “We hope we can reach a fair settlement with the remaining unsettled houses very soon.”
In February, members voted to end a contract extension that had been put in place in June, meaning workers can now strike and protest outside workplaces. The union also approved a dues increase to beef up the strike fund. Las Vegas has not seen a strike since 1991, when workers picketed the Frontier casino for six years, four months and 10 days.
