LAS VEGAS — The longest labor strike seen in Las Vegas in many years came to a close on Wednesday as a new contract was ratified between the union representing hotel workers and Virgin Hotels, where hundreds of staff had staged a walkout starting in November.
The Culinary Workers Union announced via social media that it had successfully negotiated a five-year agreement covering approximately 700 workers at the Virgin Hotels, situated near the Las Vegas Strip. In a collaborative statement released by both the union and the casino, they expressed their desire to move forward from past disagreements “for the benefit of all team members at the property,” following a strike that lasted 69 days beginning on November 15.
Bethany Khan, a union spokesperson, noted that the contract deal was finalized in recent days and received unanimous approval from the union’s members on Wednesday. This resolution concludes a protracted and contentious negotiation process, which had been publicly scrutinized due to disputes over wage increases.
The union’s prior agreement with Virgin Hotels had lapsed in June 2023. The new contract is expected to include substantial pay increases, akin to those awarded to other union members on the Strip and in various downtown and off-Strip properties over the last year. Notably, the union has highlighted a remarkable 32% wage increase over five years, a figure that Virgin Hotels previously argued was not “economically viable” for the casino’s future.
During the duration of the strike, Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer and chief negotiator, consistently asserted that workers at the Virgin Hotels were unwilling to accept what he termed a “second-class contract.”
Lee McNamara, a cook with over 25 years of service at the hotel, expressed concerns to Clark County commissioners in early December, stating that the workers deserved fair compensation similar to that of their colleagues at competing casinos. “We’re doing the same amount of work for less pay,” he remarked, emphasizing that they were effectively the lowest-paid union workers in casinos currently.
Although Virgin Hotels is not situated on the Strip, the strike was highly visible to visitors. For months, union members established perpetual picket lines outside the hotel-casino, which is conveniently located near the Strip and along a busy path leading to the city’s international airport. At one juncture, workers blocked traffic in a bid to draw attention to their labor issues, resulting in several arrests.
Throughout the strike, the union vocally opposed Virgin Hotels for bringing in temporary workers willing to cross picket lines. Additionally, a comedian canceled a scheduled performance in solidarity with the union, while the NFL Players Association announced a boycott of the casino during the strike.
The workers involved in the strike included housekeepers, porters, bellhops, and servers, many of whom indicated they were prepared to remain on the picket lines indefinitely, even if it necessitated securing secondary jobs until a new contract was confirmed.
“I’m ready to go for as long as I need to, and I’m pretty sure that’s how everyone else is feeling too,” stated Michael Renick, a bartender who has been with Virgin Hotels for about two years.
The last major strike by the union occurred in 2002, when employees at the Golden Gate hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas participated in a 10-day walkout. The Culinary Workers Union ranks as the largest labor union in Nevada, with approximately 60,000 members across the state, the majority of whom are concentrated in Las Vegas.
