Union investigates cuts in MGM workers’ hours

Mandalay Bay moving full-time employees to reserve list

The Culinary union said it will look into whether Mandalay Bay followed proper procedures when it cut employees’ work hours, effective immediately, in response to the Oct. 1 shooting.

Mandalay Bay management began informing members of the front desk, guest services and bell desk on Wednesday that they would be moved from full-time work to the reserve list, the Las Vegas Review-journal first reported Friday.

Mandalay Bay employees on a reserve list are not guaranteed a shift during the week, giving them little wage visibility. Several hundred of the 7,400 employees at Mandalay Bay will be affected, according to parent company MGM Resorts International.

“Contracts have seniority language which detail that layoffs must be done in a fair and impartial manner and ensures that when business improves, workers will return to work by seniority,” Culinary Local 226 spokeswoman Bethany Khan said in a statement. “The Union will be monitoring the situation closely and continue working with affected workers to ensure that the company follows the contract.”

Mandalay Bay saw a spike in cancellations immediately after a gunman fired onto a concert crowd from his 32nd-floor suite, killing 58 people, MGM Chief Executive Contracts have seniority language which detail that layoffs must be done in a fair and impartial manner and ensures that when business improves, workers will return to work by seniority. The Union will be monitoring the situation closely and continue working with affected workers to ensure that the company follows the contract. Officer Jim Murren told investors last week.

MGM Resorts halted advertisements for Mandalay Bay for several weeks, further affecting bookings, he said. As a result of the shooting, the company expects Las Vegas fourth-quarter net revenue to drop several percentage points from the last three months of 2016, Murren said.

Wynn Las Vegas said it is not making any hourly cuts aside from the seasonal closure of nightclubs, as well as some reduced hours for restaurants in mid-december. Boyd Gaming Corp. held a job fair last week to help fill several hundred openings across Las Vegas, said spokesman David Strow. Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Caesars Entertainment Corp. did not immediately respond to questions about whether they are cutting workers’ hours.

MGM spokeswoman Debra Deshong said Monday it is “working to minimize” the impact on Mandalay Bay employees. The company does not expect any impact on benefits for non-union employees, she added.

Bookings at Mandalay Bay have recently started to recover, and occupancy is well above 80 percent, Deshong said. She declined to say whether room prices have also recovered.

Mandalay Bay expects to begin adding more hours to employees’ schedules in early January, she said.

The Las Vegas Review-journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Review-jornal writer Rachel Crosby contributed to this report. Contact Todd Prince at tprince@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@ reviewjournal.com or 702-477-8301. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter. Las Vegans, about 50 to 60 of whom were at the concert. The remainder were Las Vegas residents who heard about the shooting within 24 hours of its occurrence.

The early results come less than a month and a half after tragedy struck the Strip, killing 58 and wounding hundreds more. That makes the study one of the first to examine trauma so soon after an event.

“Many of existing studies come months after trauma,” Benning said. “This is something where we are coming into some new territories here.”

He said the results might offer insight into how residents of Sutherland Springs, Texas, respond to a Nov. 5 church shooting that killed 26 in the small town about 40 miles southwest of San Antonio.

In Las Vegas, Benning said, it’s possible that the risk of PTSD could become exaggerated by citywide reminders of the shooting — marquees displaying the words “Vegas Strong” or “Pray for Vegas” broadcast on the radio, for example. For others, though, those symbols could offer comfort, he said.

As time goes on, it’s likely most will recover completely from whatever symptoms they experience, Benning said.

“In many studies of this nature, it looks like between 75 percent and 90 percent of people don’t go on to develop PTSD when exposed to this kind of stuff, so recovery and resilience are the typical outcomes,” he said.

Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.