From today’s Nevada Independent:
Members of the Culinary and Bartenders unions overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to authorize their negotiating committees to call for a strike by some 53,000 non-gaming Strip and downtown casino employees.
With chants of “one job should be enough,” some 20,000 workers, voting in two separate sessions at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center, were nearly unanimous in authorizing the first citywide strike against the resort industry in 39 years.
According to a post on the Culinary’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, 95 percent of the members who participated in the vote approved the strike authorization.
Representatives of Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 said the results of the vote would authorize The strike is largely symbolic but gives the labor leadership — who said they are negotiating with management in good faith — the ability to call for a walkout.
Most of the union members participating in the morning session and those who spoke with The Nevada Independent expressed support for the strike.
Francisco Rufino, a cook at a cafe inside Paris Las Vegas, said he voted yes because after working in the industry for more than 20 years, he is worried his salary won’t be enough to cover the increasing cost of living.
“The members of our union are determined to fight for what they want — I imagine it’s what I want, too — protection of good wages, protection of benefits and being able to provide for my family,” Rufino said in Spanish. “Wages are my biggest concern … But to be frank, it’s not difficult for me to say that I’m going to be out picketing to fight with my colleagues.”
The unions have not set a date for a strike, which could disrupt operations along the Strip and downtown. Gaming analysts said they expect some sort of deal — with double-digit wage increases over the course of a five-year contract period — to be reached before Las Vegas is in the international spotlight for the Formula One race in mid-November, although union leaders say they are not optimistic the dispute will be resolved before a walkout.
Read the complete story here.