“If these gaming companies don’t come to an agreement, the workers have spoken and we will be ready to do whatever it takes - up to and including a strike,” says Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union. The union didn’t immediately set a deadline for a walkout and continues bargaining for better pay, benefits, and working conditions with the top casino employers on the Las Vegas Strip. Hospitality workers flooded the Thomas and Mack Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas on Tuesday to vote in favor of authorizing a citywide strike. As of September 15, roughly 40,000 workers employed by the three largest gaming employers in the state - MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Encore Resorts - are working under an expired contract. 53,000 members are based in Las Vegas and are in active negotiations with casino and hotel employers for a new five-year contract. The Culinary Workers Union Local 226, one of the largest and most powerful unions in the country, represents 60,000 workers across Nevada. More than 50,000 service industry workers in Las Vegas voted on Tuesday, September 26, to authorize a strike that could impact 22 casino resorts on the Strip - which means bartenders, cooks, cocktail and food servers, guest room attendants, porters, bellmen, laundry, and kitchen workers statewide could hit the picket line at any time.

Status of casino workers strike