700 union staff launch 48-hour strike at Virgin Resorts on line casino off Las Vegas Strip

LAS VEGAS — About 700 staff walked off the job at a hotel-casino close to the Las Vegas Strip Friday morning in what union organizers mentioned could be a 48-hour strike after spending months attempting to succeed in a deal for brand spanking new five-year contract with Virgin Resorts.

The Culinary Union Native 226, the most important in Nevada, mentioned the motion marked its first strike in 22 years. The union licensed a citywide strike late final yr, nevertheless it reached agreements with all the main hotel-casinos on the Strip protecting about 40,000 staff earlier than the tip of the yr, and with most downtown and off-Strip properties in early February protecting one other 10,000 staff.

Visitor room attendants, cocktail and meals servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen staff have been amongst these strolling a picket line in entrance of Virgin Resorts just a few blocks west of the Strip simply after daybreak on Friday, union organizers mentioned.

Virgin Resorts filed a criticism with the Nationwide Labor Relations Board on Wednesday forward of the anticipated strike, accusing the union of failing to barter in good religion “regardless of our honest efforts to satisfy and negotiate.” It mentioned union officers have been engaged in “illegal ‘take it or go away it’ bargaining.”

“As a result of the Union has not informed us what agreements it believes are essential to keep away from a strike, now we have requested the Union to affix us in mediation as quickly as attainable,” Virgin Resorts mentioned. “The objective of mediation is to succeed in an settlement with out disrupting our company and our staff members’ lives with a piece stoppage.”

Whereas a lot smaller scale than the looming strikes final yr, the property continues to be a notable Vegas landmark due to its proximity to the Strip and since the massive Onerous Rock guitar sat on that plot for thus lengthy. Folks coming from the airport to the Strip are more likely to see the picket strains.

The final time the Culinary Union’s members went on strike was in 2002 at Golden Gate hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas.

Earlier this yr, union members at different Las Vegas-area properties acquired offers of a roughly 32% wage enhance over 5 years, together with 10% within the first yr, Culinary beforehand mentioned.

Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union, mentioned that they had known as off a strike deadline at Virgin Resorts in February when the looming Tremendous Bowl helped put stress on different hotel-casinos to come back to the bargaining desk to be able to give administration extra time to handle its monetary scenario and attain a settlement on the 1,500-room hotel-casino.

However he mentioned that they had waited lengthy sufficient and have been hopeful the 48-hour strike would assist expedite a brand new settlement on wage and profit will increase.

“It’s been almost one yr because the contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, 2023 and staff are nonetheless working with out a contract,” he mentioned in an announcement.

Pappageorge informed reporters at a information convention on Thursday that the criticism to the NLRB had no benefit.

“The cost is only a firm stunt, and it’s unlucky and unhappy that they’ve waited till the eve of the strike to even have that sort of dialogue,” Pappageorge mentioned.