Thousands of culinary union members picket outside of the Paris hotel and other MGM and Caesar properties in Las Vegas, Thursday, October 12, 2023 Brian Ramos.
Friday, Oct. 13, 2023 | 2 a.m.
The Las Vegas Strip was filled Thursday with the sound of thousands of Culinary Union members chanting mantras like “Las Vegas look around, Vegas is a union town” and drivers honking their horns in a show of support as local hospitality workers picketed for the first time in decades outside key resorts.
The union, along with the Bartenders Union, picketed outside eight MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment properties after about six months of negotiations with both companies — as well as Wynn Resorts — have failed to produce a new five-year contract for employees.
“These companies, they’re going to have to do the right thing. … These workers are doing their part,” Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer and chief union negotiator, said outside Paris Las Vegas, where workers wearing varying shades of the union’s signature red marched in tandem, waving signs calling for a contract and chanting “union power.”
The union voted widely in favor of a strike authorization last month, and Pappageorge said Thursday’s informational picket lines were aimed at giving the resorts a glimpse of how impactful a strike could be on business, if enacted.
The Resort Corridor is slated to host a slew of notable events in the coming months, including the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and Super Bowl LVIII, that could be greatly affected by a strike.
“These events don’t happen without the workers,” Pappageorge said. “These companies are dreaming if they think they’re gonna somehow shortchange workers and then be able to run these events. We’re just not gonna stay in the game.”
Companies have the opportunity to change their course and do the right thing by their workers, he said, but time is running out.
“We’re going to have a big fight with these companies if we can’t get something resolved, and it’s going to be up to our members,” Pappageorge said, noting that he and the negotiating committee can call a strike at any time. “And if we don’t get something resolved soon, we’re going to set a strike deadline.”
Union members were buoyed Thursday afternoon when Vice President Kamala Harris, in town for an education event, made an unscheduled stop at Culinary headquarters. The White House has touted President Joe Biden as the most pro-worker and pro-union president in American history.
Harris — alongside first gentlemen Douglas Emhoff — met and spoke with Culinary Union members, Local 226 President Diana Valles and Pappageorge.
Harris thanked Culinary workers for “standing up for working people” and said they were “true champions for working people.”
Pappageorge said he thought tourists, who could be seen Thursday to one side of the sidewalk to avoid crossing the picket line or even stopping and taking videos, were sympathetic to the Culinary Union’s mission and would support the union workers.
Visitors may sympathize with the union, as companies nationwide continue to bounce back from pandemic lows and the middle-class worker is increasingly viewed as “expendable,” he said.
“The message I think we’re sending to our visitors is that … it’s OK to support the people that make this town go and provide your guest experience, because we’re dealing with the same issues you’re dealing with all over the country — people having to pay for health care, having to deal with rents through the roof, housing that’s impossible to afford,” Pappageorge said. “All of those things are really across the country.”
The union is seeking workload reductions, daily room cleaning for the safety of guests and guest-room attendants, a greater return to work following the pandemic and more, in ongoing contract negotiations.
Hospitality workers are also asking for wage and benefit increases, as the cost of rent, groceries and other necessities continues to climb. Meanwhile resort companies report record profits post-pandemic, which Pappageorge said could be attributed to the hard work of their employees. Picketers on Thursday chanted, “Where did the money go?”
The union has not specified publicly what sort of wage increase it was seeking for workers.
“The amount I’m getting paid right now is not enough to keep me afloat,” said Ameeluz Cauton, 35, an order-taker in room service at the Bellagio, who added that she recently had to move out of her home of 10 years to live with her sister because of money issues. “It’s all getting eaten up,” she said of her paycheck.
Job protections against burgeoning technology are also a major issue on the table, and Cauton said the recent cyberattacks at MGM and Caesars proved the need for employees where technology failed.
She’s willing to go on strike if necessary, Cauton said.
“We’ll weather it if we have to,” she said. “Hopefully we don’t have to, but it is what it is.”
Culinary is ready to go back to the bargaining table, though Pappageorge said the next negotiating dates have not been set.
The union is ultimately looking for a fair contract and hopes it won’t have to strike, he said, adding that employers need to share their wealth with employees.
For Matt Cummings, 47, who has worked as a bartender at Mandalay Bay for nearly two decades, the scene at the picket lines Thursday was “very powerful.”
The union has a history of successfully striking, and will do it again if need be, Cummings said.
“People are ready. We’re tired. We’re fed up,” Cummings said. “We came through on the pandemic for the company, we came through during the cyberattack for MGM — so we feel that what we’re doing is right. We’re gonna fight for it.”
katieann.mccarver@gmg vegas.com / 702-990-8926 / @_katieann13_
