Strike: Vegas Casino Workers Vote To Walk Out

(RTTNews) - Tens of thousands of casino workers in Las Vegas voted Tuesday to authorize a city-wide strike anytime after June 1 if labor contract agreements are not reached before they expire at the end of May.

This would be the first strike in more than three decades in Las Vegas and could cripple the city's famed hospitality industry.

The Culinary Union said that 25,000 union members participated in two voting sessions Tuesday and 99 percent of them have favored authorizing a strike.

The union negotiating committee will be authorized to call for a strike at any time after the contract expires and workers can walk out on strike starting as soon as the morning of June 1, 2018.

Union contracts covering 50,000 union workers are set to expire on June 1, 2018 at 34 casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas.

These include properties operated by MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment Corp., Penn National, Golden Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, and other companies.

A strike would involve several roles that are critical to run a casino-hotel, including bartenders, guest room attendants, food servers, porters, cooks and kitchen workers.

"A strike is a last resort. We want to come to an agreement, but the union and workers are preparing for a citywide strike if contracts are not settled by June 1," said Geoconda Argüello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union.

The Culinary and Bartenders Unions said they are negotiating new contract language to provide greater measure of security for members, including workplace safety, sexual harassment, sub-contracting, technology, and immigration.

In addition, the union's economic proposal seeks to provide workers a fair share of the employers' enormous anticipated cash flows and Trump tax windfalls.

The Culinary Union last voted for a strike in 2002, but reached a deal with casino operators before workers walked out of their jobs.

The union last went on a city-wide strike across the Las Vegas Strip in 1984 for 67 days until contracts were settled. The strike cost the city as well as workers tens of millions of dollars.