Las Vegas union: Tentative labor deal struck with Caesars
SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 2018
LAS VEGAS – Negotiators have reached a tentative labor agreement that would cover about a quarter of the 50,000 hotel and casino workers who are threatening to strike in Las Vegas.
The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 on Friday said the new five-year deal with Caesars Entertainment covers about 12,000 workers at nine casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. Tens of thousands of bartenders, housekeepers, bellmen and other unionized workers at 34 casino-hotels on the Strip and in downtown Las Vegas have sought new, five-year contracts for months.
The current contracts expired at midnight.
Ninety-nine percent of about 25,000 workers voted last week to authorize a strike at any time starting Friday. No date has been set, but workers have started signing up for strike pay, financial assistance and picketing shifts.
Wages, workplace training and job security have been the main sticking points in negotiations.
Caesars’ properties covered by the tentative agreement are Bally’s, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood, The Cromwell, The Linq and Caesars Palace, including Nobu.
Here’s a look at the negotiations and a possible strike.
To strike or not to strike
The Culinary Union and companies that would be affected if workers walk off the job have held bargaining sessions since February. Casino-hotels that could still see a strike, if the deal between workers and Caesars sticks, include Aria, Bellagio, Tropicana, Stratosphere and Golden Nugget.
Analysts with Deutsche Bank put the likelihood of a citywide strike “as low” and said they believe negotiations could continue.
“Recall, in 2013, the Culinary Union remained in negotiations with some Strip operators for several months post the June 2013 contract expiration,” analysts with the bank noted this week. “Business during this time was uninterrupted.”
The last citywide strike was in 1984, costing the city and workers millions of dollars.
Rooms, kitchens and luggage
Casino-hotels would lose unionized bartenders, housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks and other kitchen workers in the event of a strike.
MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment operate more than half the properties that have been negotiating contracts. Both companies have declined to provide details of their contingency plans.
The union and hospitality experts have said the companies would use replacement workers and try to bring some in from properties outside Las Vegas.
Properties that would not be affected include Wynn Las Vegas, Encore, The Venetian and Palazzo.
The strike could come as fans head to the tourist destination for the Stanley Cup Final. The union for professional hockey players in the National Hockey League sent a letter to the Culinary Union on Wednesday expressing its support for the casino workers’ “attempts to reach a fair and equitable agreement.”
“It is hoped that an accommodation can promptly be reached that will enable you to continue to provide the high level of service and professionalism that you have long exhibited,” National Hockey League Players’ Association executive director Donald Fehr wrote.
Wages
The average hourly wage of Las Vegas Strip workers is $23, including benefits such as premium-free health care, a pension and a 401(k) retirement savings plan, and $20,000 down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
The union says it has asked MGM for average annual wage increases of 4 percent for each of the next five years. It says the company has countered with an approximate 2.7 percent raise.
Caesars workers have asked for an increase of 4.2 percent effective Friday, and annual increases of about 4 percent thereafter. The union previously said the company had offered an approximate 2.8 percent increase for each of the five years.
“The companies are making millions and millions of dollars, they are growing and that’s excellent,” Geoconda Arguello-Kline, union secretary-treasurer and a former housekeeper, said earlier this week. “We want them to share with the workers their success.”