Lacking pact, Culinary says it’s striking at Virgin Hotels
The lack of wage increase proposals in bargaining with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is the catalyst for an “economic strike” today by union workers, said Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of Culinary Union Local 226.
The union was scheduled to embark on its first strike in 22 years at 5 a.m. today, he said, adding the walkout would last three days, and the 700 workers who will strike will be back at work early Monday.
Pappageorge said five months of negotiations with Virgin stifled because the resort did not include a five-year wage increase plan in any of its proposals — a move he said was not reflective of Virgin’s ability to invest in its workers.
“There’s been a huge increase in the cost of living for workers, and cost of gas, the cost of groceries, rents are up 40%, housing costs have doubled in Las Vegas over the last past three or four years.,” Pappageorge said. “The big Wall Street banks and Virgin must make a decision where they’re going to invest in the workers like the rest of Las Vegas. The idea that folks can come to Las Vegas and leave workers out — that is a strike issue.”
The union is discouraging customers from crossing the picket line, asking potential patrons to cancel reservations that may overlap with the strike and to rebook with other union hotels.
Their most recent strike lasted 10 days at the Golden Gate in downtown Las Vegas in 2002, earning workers there a strong contract, the union said.
The union originally had set a strike deadline of Feb. 5 with Virgin, but the union committee voted to continue negotiations that ended up being “unfruitful.”
In a statement shared Wednesday night after the strike announcement, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas said it had made “sincere efforts” to reach a satisfactory agreement with Culinary but did not believe the union to be negotiating in good faith.
Virgin offered to go to mediation with the union before the strike. However, Pappageorge described the last-minute meeting request as a “slap in the face” to workers and stopping the strike was unlikely to happen.
“We don’t need a mediator to explain to workers the value of zero,” Pappageorge said.
Virgin has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. A copy of the filing shared Thursday with the Sun shows it listing Pappageorge by name, as well as the address of Culinary headquarters, though it lists the charge against the “Local Joint
Executive Board of Las Vegas.”
“Our commitment to providing exceptional service remains unwavering, and we continue to work towards a swift resolution that benefits both our team members and our guests,” reads a statement from Virgin. “If a strike begins on Friday, we intend to take all lawful steps necessary to continue operating and providing exceptional guest service.”
The filing with the NLRB alleges the labor union has engaged in and is currently engaging in unfair labor practices according to the National Labor Relations Act, affecting commerce within the meaning of the latter and the Postal Reorganization Act.
It also claims that “within the previous six months, the above-named labor organization has restrained and coerced employees in the exercise of rights protected by Section 7 of the (National Labor Relations Act) by threatening to retaliate against employees if they did not join or support the union.”
The filing also alleges the labor organization has failed and refused to bargain in good faith.
“It has engaged in unlawful ‘take it or leave it’ bargaining, insisting that the Employer agree to its opening economic demands,” additional information in the filing reads. “It has failed to meet at reasonable times. It has failed to respond to Employer proposals.”
The labor unit also canceled a meeting scheduled for May 2 — less than a week before it called for strike — and has not notified “the employer of what is required to avoid a strike.” The strike seems to be “the beginning of unlawful intermittent strike activity,” the filing concludes.
The filing is not currently listed on the National Labor Board website, which provides information on all cases sent to the board.
This weekend’s strike will not be in anyone’s best interest, the resort said in the statement.
“Because the Union has not told us what agreements it believes are necessary to avoid a strike, we have asked the Union to join us in mediation as soon as possible,” the property said. “The goal of mediation is to reach an agreement without disrupting our guests and our team members’ lives with a work stoppage.”
The work stoppage comes months after the union initially voted to authorize a strike in September 2023. Hospitality workers previously averted strike after securing historic contracts for employees at over a dozen combined Las Vegas resorts owned by MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts.
The union has since locked down new contracts with a slew of downtown Las Vegas and independent Strip properties, including the Golden Nugget, Rio, El Cortez and others, having threatened but avoided strikes. The union said in a release Wednesday that Virgin Hotels was the only one of those Las Vegas properties left at the negotiating table.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Culinary Union headquarters in January to commend the organization for what it’s won for Las Vegas hospitality workers so far, which includes a record wage increase, reduced workloads, job safety, technology protections and more.
Continued negotiations between the Culinary Union and Virgin Hotels are scheduled for May 14, Pappageorge said, and the union is hoping for more productive conversation.
“This is the company of zero now,” Pappageorge said. “Although they spent hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase and renovate this property, really it’s an issue of out-of-state private equity and Wall Street banks that are ready to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Las Vegas, but zero wages for workers.”