Leaders of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 can now tell members to stop performing their duties at any given time after June 1. But that direction is something both union officials and casino owners hope to avoid.<\/p>\n
\n“A strike is a last resort. We want to come to an agreement, but the union and workers are preparing for a citywide strike if contracts are not settled,” Culinary Union Secretary Geoconda Arg\u00fcello-Kline said in a release.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nLas Vegas casino and hotel properties that would be impacted by a strike. (Image: Culinary Union)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe union is seeking wage increases, protections for existing benefits, and increased workplace safety measures to combat sexual harassment. They also seek assurances against subcontracting and technological innovations that could put members out of work or into reduced roles and fewer hours.<\/p>\n
Leaders point to President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, which greatly benefited its union members’ employers, as the basis for saying their demands are reasonable.<\/strong><\/p>\n“As we continue to bargain in good faith, we are confident that we’ll resolve contract issues and negotiate a contract that works for everyone,” MGM said in a statement to CNBC<\/i>.<\/p>\nAt Stake<\/b><\/h2>\n
Though the odds of a full-fledged strike seem long, the threat of 50,000 workers walking off the job cannot be downplayed.<\/p>\n
Many of the properties that would be affected include those that fall into the “$72 million and over” gross gaming revenue category, which are those labeled by UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research as the major players on the Las Vegas Strip.<\/p>\n
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According to UNLV, 24 such properties collectively won more than $5.5 billion on their casino floors last year. They additionally generated $4.6 billion in room revenue. Add in food and beverage, entertainment, and other services, and the biggest Las Vegas Strip casinos produced over $16.4 billion in revenue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That equates to nearly $45 million per day. Such losses would of course be devastating to the Las Vegas economy.<\/strong><\/p>\nThough casino unions have authorized strikes before in Las Vegas, actual walkouts that impact the entire city are uncommon. The last one took place in 1984, when thousands of workers went on a strike that lasted 67 days.<\/p>\n
According to professor and author James Kraft — who wrote\u00a0Vegas at Odds: Labor Conflict in a Leisure Economy, 1960-1985 —\u00a0<\/em>that walkout cost the city’s gaming venues the equivalent in today’s dollars of $250 million (there were many fewer casinos back then), along with massive deficits from lost hotel taxes for both Las Vegas and Nevada, due to visitor drops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Las Vegas Culinary Union — composed of\u00a050,000 casino resort workers — voted on Tuesday by a 99 percent member vote to authorize a strike at anytime after 12:01 am Pacific Time on June 1 if efforts to negotiate a Hail Mary pass fail in the next nine days. The Las Vegas economy could come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":78435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Las Vegas Culinary Union Votes to Authorize Strike, 34 Casinos Affected<\/title>\n \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