Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Union: Workers reach tentative labor deal with Stratosphere

Las Vegas BLVD casino exteriors

Mikayla Whitmore

The Stratosphere on Las Vegas Boulevard on Sept. 30, 2015.

Updated Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | 2:39 p.m.

A union representing more than 1,000 workers at the Stratosphere announced today it reached a tentative labor agreement with the property's operator Golden Entertainment.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 said in a statement that the deal reached after 16 hours of negotiations will cover 1,300 workers for five years.

The agreement would cover bartenders, housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellhops, cooks and other kitchen workers whose contract expired May 31.

They were part of a group of 50,000 Las Vegas casino workers who authorized a strike after a lack of progress on negotiations.

Unionized workers at MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment properties have since approved new contracts with those operators, covering about 36,000 workers.

A walkout will be avoided at the Stratosphere if its workers ratify the contract.

Sean Higgins, Golden Entertainment's chief legal officer, said in a statement that the company was pleased to have reached the tentative deal.

"We look forward to working together with our team members at the Stratosphere in the future."

The union declined to provide details about the agreement because it has not yet been ratified by workers, but generally it includes agreements on wage increases and equipping housekeepers with "panic buttons" — wireless devices that workers can use to alert managers if they are in a threatening situation.

The union is still negotiating agreements with 15 casino-resorts involving 8,700 workers at Las Vegas Strip and downtown Las Vegas properties.

The union on Wednesday was planning to meet with the operators of the Westgate casino-resort and on Thursday with Tropicana casino-resort.