Culinary Union Reaches Tentative Agreement With Two of Three Major Employers on the Vegas Strip as Strike Deadline Looms

The Culinary and Bartenders Union at Las Vegas and MGM Resorts reached a tentative agreement on Thursday, after the union announced it had reached an agreement with Caesars Entertainment on Wednesday. Negotiations with the final major Las Vegas Strip employer, Wynn, are happening Thursday ahead of a strike deadline early Friday morning.The deal between the union and MGM will cover some 25,400 members and, though the details have not yet been made public, is said to include the largest ever negotiated wage increase for union members.“After seven months of negotiations, we are proud to say that this is the best contract and economic package we have ever won in our 88-year history,” the union secretary-treasurer, Ted Pappageorge, said. He added that the deal secures “significant raises every year for the next five years,” and preserves “our great union health insurance, union pension, and comprehensive union benefits.”The chief executive of MGM Resorts, Bill Hornbuckle, also struck an amicable tone in a statement regarding the deal, saying “employees are the heart of our company and the driving force in the success we’ve enjoyed in Las Vegas post-pandemic.”“We’re pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that averts a strike, gives our Culinary Union employees a well-earned boost to pay and benefits and reduces workloads — all while continuing to provide opportunities for growth and advancement,” Mr. Hornbuckle said.The agreement with MGM follows a deal with Caesars that was announced Wednesday. The union represents about 10,000 employees across Caesars’ nine Las Vegas properties.The details of the deal with Caesars have also not been made public. However, Reuters reports that the deal provides a “meaningful wage increase” and will help bring more union jobs to the Strip.The agreement comes ahead of a strike deadline of 5 a.m. Friday, when if no deal is reached 35,000 hospitality professionals in Las Vegas are scheduled to walk off the job in what would be the largest hospitality strike in American history.The strike would have the potential to shut down, or affect service, at 18 casinos and resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. The union is negotiating with each company one at a time. “No one wants to strike,” Mr. Pappageorge, said at a news conference Tuesday, adding that balancing negotiations at the three major employers was like “landing three planes at once.”A spokesman for Wynn Resorts, Michael Weaver, tells the Sun that the bargaining so far has gone well. MGM Resorts did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Sun.“We have had productive bargaining sessions with the Union, with our next session scheduled for tomorrow,” Mr. Weaver says. “We are working to reach an agreement soon.”The strike deadline on Friday is a week before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a high-profile Formula 1 event that is returning this year after a 40-year hiatus and is expected to bring more than 100,000 tourists to the city.While it appears that Caesars has avoided a strike, a strike at MGM and Wynn alone would mean approximately 25,000 employees would walk off Friday.MGM has highlighted the cost of a wage increase, saying that every 1 percent increase in wages would equal as much as $10 million in additional labor costs.

Culinary Union Reaches Tentative Agreement With Two of Three Major Employers on the Vegas Strip as Strike Deadline Looms

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