The union represents about 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno. Since the Nevada casinos started reopening on June 4, the union has seen nearly 40 of its members or their dependents hospitalized because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n
While the Culinary Union claimed victory in the statement, MGM held a decidedly different point of view regarding the matter.<\/p>\n
The Culinary Union filed a frivolous lawsuit asserting that we did not have adequate health and safety protocols,\u201d<\/strong> the company said in a statement Tuesday to Casino.org<\/em>. \u201cThey have now made a motion to dismiss their lawsuit after we challenged them in court. We hope that the Culinary Union will work collaboratively with us in the future when it comes to health and safety issues.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhen MGM filed its motion to dismiss or sever from Caesars earlier this month, the company noted that it brought in consultants to help them devise a COVID-19 safety plan based on the \u201cbest available\u201d epidemiological studies.<\/p>\n
The company presented the plan to union officials more than three weeks before its properties began reopening. While labor officials did not comment or criticize the plan, they did tell MGM they were pursuing standardized safety regulations across all casino properties.<\/p>\n
MGM also accused the union of focusing more on economic issues than safety concerns in its talks with company leaders. The company said it did not learn of the union\u2019s concerns until labor leaders issued a press release announcing the then-pending lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Union raised concerns about scheduling, seniority, and recall. But its leadership never picked up the phone about the COVID-19 issues set forth in the Complaint,\u201d MGM said in its motion.<\/p>\n
Union Honors Fallen Worker<\/h2>\n
The union is continuing to press Nevada officials to consider the Adolfo Fernandez bill, named in honor of a Caesars Palace porter who died on June 26 after contracting the virus.<\/p>\n
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The legislation would require all Nevada casinos to clean hotel rooms daily, enforce social distancing guidelines, provide free testing for workers returning to the job or who have been exposed, conduct temperature checks, increase safety training for workers, and develop action plans for instances when workers contract the virus or have been exposed to it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Nevada lawmakers just wrapped up a special session in Carson City to address a budget deficit, and while initially, Gov. Steve Sisolak<\/a> (D) planned to call another session immediately afterward to deal with such issues as worker safety, he opted against that on Sunday. Instead, he announced he would hold off, given the current state of the COVID-19 emergency in Nevada.<\/p>\nThe delay would also allow lawmakers to get with his staff to come to agreements on issues that he plans to bring up during the session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As expected, an expedited arbitration case began Tuesday between the Culinary Union and MGM Resorts International. That came one day after the labor organization filed a motion to voluntarily remove the Las Vegas-based gaming company from a federal lawsuit concerning protecting workers from COVID-19. Last month, the union filed the suit against MGM and Caesars […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":142483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Culinary Union Drops MGM from COVID-19 Suit with Case in Arbitration<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n