Three Las Vegas casinos avoided a strike Monday after two reached an agreement with union negotiators over the weekend and the other was given more time. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Big week for the city
The Super Bowl is coming to Las Vegas for the first time and football fans are looking forward to Sunday’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. One cause of tension for potential attendees was the possibility of worker strikes at three casinos in the city. This is no longer a concern after developments over the weekend.
Give more time to reach an agreement with Virgin Las Vegas
Workers at the Golden Nugget, Virgin Las Vegas and Downtown Grand were on strike Monday. Culinary Workers Union Local 226 announced Sunday it would not move forward with a walkout after reaching deals with two properties. It gives more time to reach an agreement with Virgin Las Vegas.
Secure improvements
The union had already agreed to a tentative contract before the weekend with Main Street, Fremont, Four Queens and Binion casinos. The five-year deals cover around 1,000 hospitality workers and are said to see workers receive significant improvements to their contracts.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects 330,000 people to visit Las Vegas during Super Bowl week.
Negotiations began at the beginning of last month and the syndicate quickly reached deals with major properties such as Circa Resort, Las Vegas Desert and Circus Circus. It has stalled along with several other casinos, threatening strikes if there is no agreement by 5 a.m. Monday. The main areas of contention were increasing wages, protecting benefits, and reducing the process of replacing workers with technology.
A big player
Culinary Union Local 226 Treasurer Ted Papageorge said Reuters President Joe Biden is likely to join the strike as he will be in the city on Monday. The president did something similar in September when he participated in a strike by auto workers in Michigan.
The Culinary Union is the largest labor representative body in Nevada, representing about 60,000 people.
The Culinary Union recently represented about 40,000 workers at properties managed by Wynn Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International. It also threatened to strike before Formula 1 race week, but all parties involved eventually settled on new contracts in November.
