LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Culinary Workers Union has come to a tentative agreement with four hotel-casinos in downtown Las Vegas, while employees at three other properties are prepared to strike on Monday at the start of Super Bowl week. By Saturday morning, the union had announced a tentative five-year contract with Binion’s, Four Queens, Fremont and Main Street, covering about 1,000 workers. However, the Golden Nugget, Downtown Grand, and Virgin Las Vegas near the Strip have not yet reached an agreement with the union.
Last year, the Las Vegas Strip’s three largest employers — MGM Resorts International, Caesar Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts — managed to strike deals with the union, covering 40,000 members and narrowly avoiding a historic strike. The attention then turned to attaining the same contract terms for workers at other hotel-casinos in Las Vegas.
Starting in early January, the union had successfully negotiated with most of these properties, including Circus Circus, Sahara Las Vegas, the Strat, Circa Resort, and the El Cortez. However, after encountering obstacles in negotiations with some of the remaining casinos, the union declared last week that it would go on strike if tentative contracts were not in place by 5 a.m. Monday for downtown casino workers at properties that had not reached agreements. The NFL’s 58th championship game is expected to draw approximately 330,000 people to Las Vegas this week, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The Culinary Union, which is Nevada’s largest with about 60,000 members statewide, negotiates on behalf of its members for five-year contracts.
