Historic: After two decades, Culinary Union has its first contract with Venetian, Palazzo on Strip

Representatives of Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 agreed this morning to their first contract with Venetian and Palazzo on the Las Vegas Strip, union officials said in a social media post.

“Today’s tentative agreement on a new 4-year union contract with The Venetian Resort Las Vegas is a testament to the power of worker solidarity and determination,” said union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge in a news release this afternoon.

“The workers at The Venetian Resort have now made history by unionizing 25-years after the property opened its doors. This contract not only guarantees job security and fair wages, but it also upholds the standards that the Culinary Union has fought to establish in Las Vegas."

The tentative five-year agreement, which still needs to be ratified by the 4,000 unionized hospitality workers at the two properties, ends more than two decades of union efforts being stonewalled by the property’s former owner, Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson, the billionaire GOP megadonor, died in 2021. A year later, the properties were acquired in a $6 billion deal by the real estate trust VICI Properties.

The contract includes language on increased worker security regarding sexual harassment, technology, immigration and a choice regarding health care benefits, the release stated. It also secures the largest wage increases ever, workload reductions and daily room cleaning for guest room attendants, safety protections for workers on-the-job, recall rights and the right for unionized workers to support nonunion restaurant workers seeking to unionize.

Apollo Global Management, the group that operates Venetian and Palazzo, didn’t oppose efforts to unionize workers. A joint statement is expected later today.

“I’m so ecstatic right now,” union member Meet Kimbro, a housekeeper at the Venetian,said in a post from the union. “We made it happen. We got a first time contract at the Venetian. Historic.”

The contract is believed to mirror the five-year deals the union reached late last year with MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts.

Those deals brought historic wage, pension and health care increases, the union said at the time.

“We think this is the best contract we’ve ever had,” Pappageorge said of the November 2023 agreement with Caesars Entertainment.

Today's tentative agreement comes just over one year after the Culinary and Bartenders Unions entered into a card-check neutrality agreement with The Venetian.

"Culinary Union applauds The Venetian Resort for doing the right thing and for agreeing to protect their employees with a strong union contract," Pappageorge stated after the deal was announced today. "The Venetian Resort becoming union ensures that Las Vegas remains a place where workers’ voices are heard, respected, and protected.”