Culinary Union Strike Now in Fifth Day at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas

^{Culinary Union members are geared up to hit the picket lines as they strike at Virgin Hotels shortly before this weekend's F1 race. (Image: courtesy of Unite Here!)}

Members of Culinary Local 226 continued their strike against Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on Tuesday, marking the fifth day that union workers were picketing at the casino resorts. 

The workers say they plan to continue the strike until they receive a wage increase similar to that reached by workers at other Las Vegas venues last year.

Workers Want Virgin to Match Agreements at Other Properties

The strike, the first open-ended work stoppage for the Culinary Union since 2002, includes about 700 workers at Virgin Hotels. 

Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge has told reporters that so far, Virgin has offered far less than the level of wage and benefit increases – worth about $9.21 an hour – that workers at other resort properties on and near the Las Vegas Strip received last year. 

That agreement came around the same time last year, and resulted in salary increases of about 32% as part of a new five-year contract for workers at venues including the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, and Paris Las Vegas. 

That contract was reached just before the first ever F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. With the second edition of the F1 race starting on Thursday, there may be pressure on Virgin to have its workers back before the massive event starts.

However, the hotel-casino says that it can’t afford the union’s proposal, calling it “not economically sustainable for the property.” Virgin also claims that union leaders aren’t meaningfully negotiating with management.

“Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is committed to protecting the jobs of our 1,710 team members through ensuring the continued operation of our property,” the resort said in a statement. “We believe in prioritizing the well-bring of all our team members, a responsibility that the Union does not seem to share. The Union is willing to sacrifice off-Strip properties to maintain its bargaining leverage, at the expense of its own members.” 

Temporary Workers Filling in at Virgin Hotels

As a part of those efforts to keep the resort running, Virgin has hired hundreds of temporary workers, which it says are being paid at the same rates as existing Culinary Union workers. The company also reached a separate agreement on a new contract with the Teamsters Union, which represents 105 workers at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, last Wednesday. 

The use of non-union workers in temporary roles was a point of contention for striking workers, who distributed posters asking “Do you want your room cleaned by people off the streets?” while encouraging visitors not to cross their picket line.

“I am fighting for myself and coworkers to continue the union standard of living,” striking Virgin Hotel employee Aaron Mahan said, according to NBC News 3 in Las Vegas. “I felt this company wanted me to have that standard when they gave us that choice to be culinary members, and now they’re trying to take that standard from us…we are fighting for the same contract everyone else got.”

The last opened-ended strike by the Culinary Union took place at the Golden Gate hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas in 2002. That action lasted 10 days before an agreement was reached. The union also held a two-day strike at Virgin Hotels this May after five months of negotiations failed to result in an agreement.