Las Vegas has seen ongoing picketing on Sunday outside a hotel-casino situated near the Las Vegas Strip, which remained operational amidst an absence of discussions between management and union members who are striking for a new contract.
Workers are advocating for wage increases and benefits that align with recent agreements reached at other resorts in the area.
The strike, led by members of the Culinary Workers Union at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, comes just one week prior to the second edition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, expected to attract hundreds of thousands of fans for Formula 1 racing on the Strip and surrounding streets.
This marks the first open-ended strike for Nevada’s largest labor union, which boasts around 60,000 members, since 2002.
According to union spokesperson Bethany Khan, there are no new negotiations planned, a sentiment echoed by Terri Maruca, the media representative for Virgin Hotels, which owns the 1,500-room establishment.
Maruca mentioned that the company has received applications from over 600 potential contract and temporary workers since Friday.
The union provides striking workers with $500 per week for a minimum of five days for their picketing efforts.
Picketing workers include guest room attendants, food and cocktail servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, and laundry staff—many of whom also participated in a 48-hour job action last May to urge Virgin Hotels to accept a new five-year agreement with enhanced benefits and higher wages.
In the past, other casinos both on and off the Strip found resolutions with the union just ahead of last year’s Formula 1 race. Those contracts included approximately a 32% pay raise over five years for numerous workers at properties like Bellagio, Paris Las Vegas, MGM Grand, and Caesars Palace.
In a statement released on Sunday, Virgin Hotels labeled those agreements as “economically unsustainable,” asserting its desire for a “reasonable agreement” for its 1,710 employees.
Additionally, the company alleges that union leaders have been resistant to engaging in “meaningful negotiations.”
The last strike initiated by Culinary Union members took place in 2002 and lasted for 10 days at the Golden Gate hotel-casino located in downtown Las Vegas.