Tons of of employees went on strike early Friday morning at a resort close to the Las Vegas Strip.
Round 700 hospitality employees walked off the job at Virgin Inns Las Vegas as contract negotiations between the resort and the Culinary Union broke down.
The Culinary Union mentioned Friday’s motion is its first open-ended strike in 22 years. Culinary Union employees on the resort additionally participated in a 48-hour strike in Could, which, the union mentioned, was its first in 22 years.
“The contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, 2023, and workers are fighting for a new contract that secures a better future for their families. That’s why the Culinary Union has called for a strike at the Virgin Las Vegas on Friday, Nov. 15, and urges Las Vegas locals and customers to not cross the strike line in solidarity with the workers,” Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union, mentioned in an announcement shared with FOX Enterprise.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest with greater than 60,000 employees.
The union mentioned no employees from every other Las Vegas motels are being known as on to strike.
Pappageorge mentioned Virgin Las Vegas’ proposal is “miles apart” from what the union needs “and is an insult to every worker, which is why the committee voted unanimously to refuse to settle for a second-class contract.”
The union mentioned picketing employees can be exterior the resort 24 hours a day till the strike ends.
“I don’t know how we’re different,” Virgin Las Vegas server Deanna Vann advised FOX 5 of different Las Vegas resort employees who efficiently negotiated new contracts.
“I get that we’re not like other casinos on the Strip, but same thing with Rio and Westgate. A lot of ones that aren’t on the Strip are union, and they signed a contract, a great one, compared to what they’re trying to offer us.”
One Canadian visitor at Virgin Las Vegas mentioned he’s already seen a distinction in service on the resort.
“This morning, we went to order breakfast — room service — and they said it was unavailable,” Lance Richards advised FOX 5.
“They’re not open today. I thought that was strange because part of the advertisement was having 24-hour room service. So, we went to get breakfast outside the hotel, and we saw all these picketers and found out why we can’t get room service.”
FOX Enterprise has reached out to Virgin Las Vegas for remark.
Virgin Las Vegas pointed FOX 5 to its newest assertion accusing the union of “bad faith bargaining.”
“When we concluded our most recent meeting on July 11, the ball was in the union’s court,” the resort mentioned this week.
“We did not hear from the union until Nov. 8 — after it had already set a strike deadline of Nov. 15. After we waited several months for the union to respond to our June proposal and return to the table, their unconstructive approach and bad faith bargaining today was another disappointment.”
