Secretary-Treasurer, Ted Pappageorge, speaks to the press as 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.
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is “putting the industry on notice” and prepared to set strike deadlines for workers at MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts if negotiations continue to come up empty, Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer and chief negotiator, said Monday.
“We’re hoping for the best in bargaining,” Pappageorge told members of the media. “We’re working through proposals and preparing to bargain with the (resorts), but I think it’s time for the(resorts) to make significant moves if they really do want to try to resolve this without a strike. And that’s what we’re hoping to do.”
Nevada’s largest union resumed negotiations Monday with MGM and is scheduled to sit down again Friday with Caesars Entertainment. Talks with Wynn Resorts are to resume Monday.
The union has been bargaining since April with the three companies, who have a combined 40,000 Culinary and Bartenders Unionmembers working under expired contracts.
Pappageorge declined to clarify further on how soon a strike could occur. The Culinary and Bartenders unions last month voted in favor of a strike authorization.
“I don’t think we’re interested in the (resorts) knowing what our plans are,” Pappageorge said. “I think right now, our plans are to bargain very hard and to work closely with our brothers and sisters in Detroit. They’re showing us the way.”
Casino workers in Detroit began striking last week in an ongoing fight for “economic justice,” health care, greater contributions for retirement, protections regarding jobs and technology and more, said Jamil Johnson, a food server at MGM Grand Detroit.
“We’re fighting for respect,” Johnson said during Monday’s news conference with Pappageorge and other union members. “We are the workers who helped these companies weather the storm of the pandemic. They have made boatloads of money on the backs of our hard work. We just want our fair share.”
Workers in Detroit were driven to a strike over the same issues that workers in Las Vegas have brought to the negotiating table, Pappageorge said, so if Culinary is repeatedly unable to get the “best contract” it will be forced to go on strike as well.
The Culinary and Bartenders unions in Las Vegas have successfully reached a contract agreement with hospitality companies for approximately 30 years, Pappageorge said, but situations have changed at the resorts since the pandemic. The strike in Detroit proves it, he added.
“We are standing in solidarity with our brothers in Las Vegas, as they are standing in solidarity with us in Detroit,” said Johnson, who emphasized that both unions would rather not strike but must if a strike is necessary to get a new contract. “Because when we fight, we win.”
In Las Vegas, Culinary has announced plans to rally outside the Bellagio and Paris Las Vegas on Wednesday evening, during which time 75 union protesters will participate in a nonviolent act of civil disobedience in the middle of the Strip, possibly prompting their own arrest.
There is a rich history in Las Vegas of people reacting to unjust actions with civil disobedience, Pappageorge said, and Wednesday’s event will hopefully show resorts that the union is disciplined, organized, strong and ready to fight.
“I’m very excited,” Pappageorge said. “I can’t wait to be out in the middle of the Strip on Wednesday night with my brothers and sisters that are going to join us out there for this nonviolent civil disobedience. And our goal is to send a message to these companies that it’s time to bargain.”
The rally comes on the heels of the union picketing outside MGM and Caesars properties earlier this month. Vice President Kamala Harris, who was in town for an education event that day, stopped by Culinary headquarters in a show of support.
The unions are asking for a reduction in workload, the reinstatement of daily room cleaning standards following their decline because of COVID-19, a greater return to work of employees following the pandemic, protections when it comes to new forms of technology and substantial increases in wages and benefits.
“Right now, we are stressing that one job should be enough,” said James Loretto, who works in room service at Mandalay Bay, on Monday. “One person can’t do, or should not do, the job of three individuals. I should be capable of also being able to sustain myself in this city. The Las Vegas dream is not obtainable right now.”
