Tens of thousands of hospitality workers in Las Vegas are set to vote on whether to authorize a strike that could disrupt dozens of resorts
Tens of thousands of hospitality workers who keep the iconic casinos and hotels of Las Vegas humming were set to vote Tuesday on whether to authorize a strike amid ongoing contract negotiations.
There’s been increased labor organizing in recent years across multiple industries — from strikes to work stoppages — and Tuesday’s vote will take place on the same day President Joe Biden joined United Auto Workers strikers on a picket line in Michigan.
The Culinary Workers Union, a political powerhouse in Nevada, hasn’t gone on strike in more than three decades. Results of the vote are expected to be released Tuesday night after a second round of votes are cast in the evening. Some 53,000 housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, cooks and bartenders in Las Vegas are taking part.
The union is seeking better pay, benefits and working conditions as it bargains with the top employers on the Las Vegas Strip, including MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. A walkout could impact more than three dozen casinos and hotels on the Strip and in downtown, the city’s economic backbone.
“We are the glue that keeps these hotels together, and we should be paid what we deserve,” Deanna Virgil, a longtime employee at Wynn Las Vegas, told The Associated Press after casting her vote Tuesday morning.
