This Week in Gambling: Las Vegas strike looms large

The possibility of over 50,000 Las Vegas workers walking off the job at any moment is very real, as unions approved a city-wide strike on 6 October. Now, the city is on edge as it waits to see if cooks, bartenders, maids, and other service-related employees go on strike and throw the city into chaos.

These employees are seeking a new five-year contract with better wages, more benefits, and profit sharing at the major resorts such as: Aria Resort & Casino, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Excalibur Hotel and Casino, Flamingo Las Vegas, Harrah’s Las Vegas Casino & Hotel, Horseshoe Las Vegas, Luxor Hotel and Casino, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Paris Las Vegas, Park MGM, Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, The Cromwell, and The LINQ Hotel + Experience.

Ted Pappageorge, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer stated that the casino companies “…have an opportunity to do the right thing and step up and get a contract done, but if not, there could be a Las Vegas strike at any time.”

Negotiations have been going on since April with little progress. And although there is no deadline for the strike, the unions have met with MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, and Wynn Las Vegas in recent days. The union’s proposal would be the largest wage increase in history, and would reduce room quotas for housekeepers, improve safety for workers, cut back on overall workloads, and more.