Culinary Union workers picket as contract negotiations continue with 19 Las Vegas casino properties
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The Culinary Union held demonstrations on the Las Vegas Strip Friday as 7,000 workers continue to fight for new five-year contracts.
It is part of the union’s latest negotiations with 19 remaining properties on the Strip and downtown.
Passionate chants were heard in front of Sahara Las Vegas and The Strat as workers held signs and called for change.
“We want our contract,” Brenda Alvarez, an employee at Sahara Las Vegas said. “Every day we are tired, we are getting overloaded with work.”
Union leaders told 8 News Now these latest members have been waiting on new contracts since June, in the last round of property negotiations over the past few months.
The most notable deals were made just ahead of a strike deadline in November, for approximately 35,000 workers at Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts.
The union also recently agreed to new contracts with The Mirage, Waldorf Astoria, and Trump Hotel.
Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Tedd Pappageorge told 8 News Now these current negotiations are similar, citing demands for higher pay, better workplace safety, and protection against advanced technology at properties.
“Visitation is up, room rates are through the roof, they are doing very well,” Pappageorge said of Las Vegas properties. “But they forget they can’t do it without the workers.”
Those workers said they would continue to pound the pavement and fight for what they called a better future.
“If we don’t have a contract, we don’t have a future,” Vecsve Bodoca, who works at Sahara Las Vegas said. “We don’t have our families set up.”
The strike deadline for the remaining negotiations is February 2, at 5:00 a.m., about a week ahead of Super Bowl 58.
Union leaders told 8 News Now they plan to hold several more pickets in the coming weeks.
