Posted on: November 8, 2023, 09:44h.
Last updated on: November 8, 2023, 09:44h.
Culinary Union representatives announced a tentative five-year contract with the nine Las Vegas properties owned by Caesars Entertainment. This comes just in time for the highly anticipated Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. The race is scheduled to take place between November 16 and 19.
Word of the agreement comes just two days before a firm strike deadline for the hospitality workers. The approximately 10K rank-and-file union members will have to vote on the offer to make it official. The news of the settlement comes days before the highly anticipated Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The culinary union recently revealed it was negotiating for wage increases, workload reductions, increased safety, job protection from automation, and recall rights, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
So far, two other casino companies, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts, have yet to reach an agreement with the union. Approximately 25K Culinary Union members at those properties still plan to strike on Friday if a suitable contract isn’t ironed out. As of early this week, union members were assembling picket signs in anticipation of the possible work stoppage.
Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg in an earnings call last week was hopeful that new contracts could be reached with the union members, stating, “we have done quite well as a company post-merger, post-pandemic, and our employees should and will participate in that.” “So, you should expect that when we reach an agreement on a contract, it’s going to be the largest increase that our employees have seen in the four decades since we started interacting with the Culinary Union.”
Detroit Strike Continues
Across the country, since October 17, 3,700 workers have been on strike at three Detroit gaming properties: Hollywood Casino at Greektown, MGM Grand Detroit, and MotorCity Casino Hotel. Workers are urging people not to enter the three casinos.
Management’s latest proposal was to have workers pay $40 for health care premiums. The prior offer was $60. The union wants workers to continue not paying any premiums, according to a video posted by the United Auto Workers on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Recently, the union revealed that management offered workers a $1.95 per hour increase during the contract’s first year. The union want the hourly increase to be $3.25.