Picket lines are planned at three Las Vegas venues on Thursday, October 12, as Culinary Workers Union Local 226 pushes for a new contract with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn/Encore properties on the Strip.
While union workers voted September 26 to authorize a strike if negotiations with employers fail, the October 12 picket lines are not work stoppages. The labor action will run from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Workers will be picketing before and after their shifts.
The picket lines are planned for the sidewalks in front of The Linq Hotel, Park MGM, and Paris Las Vegas, expanding to other nearby properties involved in the labor dispute. From The Linq, picket lines could extend to Harrah’s and Flamingo; from Paris to Horseshoe and Planet Hollywood; and from Park MGM to New York-New York.
While the union is not calling for a work stoppage, they are asking the public and convention planners not to cross the picket lines, “to stand in solidarity with workers by not eating, meeting, or staying in a casino resort during an active picket line.”
The labor action comes just days before thousands of meeting and convention industry executives begin arriving for IMEX America, October 15 to 18 at Mandalay Bay, an MGM property. However, no further picket lines have been announced beyond October 12.
According to the union, about 40,000 guest-room attendants, servers, bartenders, and other hospitality workers have been working under expired contracts since September 15 at 18 Strip properties. After a series of negotiations between the hotel company and the union the week of October 2, no agreement for a new five-year contract has been reached. Issues on the table include salaries and benefits, workload reduction for housekeeping, and safety.
