Culinary, MGM Resorts reach tentative agreement

Las Vegas tourists can rest assured this weekend that service won’t be disrupted.

Union negotiators say they struck a tentative deal with MGM Resorts International, the state’s largest hotel operator by employees, just a day after workers began preparing strike signs.

“We are pleased to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached with @MGMResortsIntl,” Culinary Local 226 said in a Tweet about 11:15 p.m. Saturday.

The deal comes a day after Caesars Entertainment Corp., Nevada’s second-largest hotel operator, reached a similar tentative agreement with the union.

Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165, part of UNITE HERE, threatened to strike for the first time in more than three decades if they did not reach a new agreement by midnight on Thursday.

Contracts for 50,000 Las Vegas hotel employees, including housekeeping staff, bell staff, bartenders and cocktail waitresses expired June 1. The workers were demanding an average annual increase in wages and benefits of 4 percent over the next five years.

The deals with MGM and Caesars cover about 36,000 employees and 18 of the 34 resorts where worker contracts expired. As the largest employers, MGM and Caesars normally set the stage for other resorts to reach deals with the union.

A union vote will be scheduled in the coming days for both the Caesars and MGM contracts.