Culinary Union Votes To Authorize a Strike

Members of the Culinary Union voted to strike as soon as June 1. Around 25,000 of the 50,000 members came out to vote during two sessions at the Thomas & Mack Center on Tuesday, with 99 percent voting to authorize a strike.

Contracts at 34 resorts on the Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas expire on June 1. Las Vegas Now reports that Caesars Entertainment expects to sign a new contract before the deadline. Other resorts with expiring contracts include MGM Resorts, Penn National, Golden Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, and more.

The vote only authorizes the union negotiating committee to call a strike any time after June 1, so a city-wide strike is only a last straw possibility. Instead, the vote could give the union leverage in negotiations.

”A strike is a last resort. We want to come to an agreement, but the union and workers are preparing for a citywide strike if contracts are not settled by June 1,” says Geoconda Argüello-Kline, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union, in a statement.

Culinary union members include bartenders, guest room attendants, cocktail servers, food servers, porters, bellman, cooks, and kitchen workers.

The last city-wide strike in Las Vegas took place in 1984, effecting 32 resorts and lasting 67 days.

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