by
Mark Gruenberg
Las
Vegas casino owners’ threats to subcontract or automate thousands
of workers’ jobs – among other issues — forced the workers,
employed by Unite Here Locals 226 and 165, to vote almost unanimously
to authorize a strike if bargainers fail to agree on a new pact by
June 1.
If
50,000 workers, who toil at 34 big hotels on the Las Vegas strip and
downtown, must walk out, it would be the union’s largest strike in
decades. The May 23 vote at the Thomas and Mack Center, a basketball
arena, drew 25,000 members, who authorized the strike by a 99
percent-1 percent margin.
“We
don’t want to go on strike, but we will if we have to,” said
union Communications Director Bethany Khan. “The companies are
more profitable than ever, because of our hard work, and the workers
want to share in that success for their families.”
The two
locals represent culinary and other hotel workers (Local 226) and
bartenders (Local 165). The other workers – at resorts such as MGM
Grand, Caesars Palace, Bally’s, Circus Circus and New York New York
— include guest room attendants, cocktail servers, food servers,
porters, bellmen, cooks, and kitchen workers. Members of the two
locals, Unite Here’s and Nevada’s biggest, are women (55
percent), members of minorities (54 percent), or both.
“A
strike is a last resort. We want to come to an agreement, but the
union and workers are preparing for a citywide strike if contracts
are not settled by June 1,” said Geoconda Argüello-Kline,
Local 226’s Secretary-Treasurer. Several hotels have pacts that run
beyond June 1.
“We
support innovations that improve jobs, but we oppose automation when
it only destroys jobs. Our industry must innovate without losing the
human touch. That’s why employers should work with us to stay
strong, fair, and competitive,” Argüello-Kline added.
If the
casinos force the workers to walk, it would be the largest strike in
Las Vegas in 34 years. The last long strike, settled 20 years ago,
led to unionization of – and the sale of – the Frontier Casino.
That drew massive labor-wide support. That walkout lasted seven years
and nobody ever crossed Unite Here’s picket line.
Chad
Neanover, a prep cook at the Margaritaville, told the union he “voted
yes to go on strike to ensure my job isn’t outsourced to a robot.
We know technology is coming, but workers shouldn’t be pushed out
or left behind. Casino companies should ensure technology is
harnessed to improve the quality and safety in the workplace, not as
a way to completely eliminate our jobs.”
“I
don’t want to go on strike, but I will. The company is more
profitable than ever because of the hard work we do, and I’m going
to keep fighting to make sure we have a fair share of that success,”
added MGM Resorts International guest room attendant Adela Montes de
Oca.
Besides
automation and subcontracting, other top issues include more job
security for members, workplace safety, measures to curb and prevent
sexual harassment and the casinos’ attitude towards protecting
immigrants. Las Vegas has declared itself a “sanctuary city,”
incurring the ire of the GOP Trump administration. GOP state
lawmakers are trying to put a initiative on the November ballot to
ban all sanctuary cities in the state.
“In
addition, the union’s economic proposal seeks to provide workers a
fair share of the employers’ enormous anticipated cash flows and
Trump tax windfalls,” its statement says.
At MGM
Resorts International alone, the Trump tax cut for business and the
rich gave the chain’s hotels $1.6 billion, the union pointed out in
early bargaining. MGM bosses sent $580 million to shareholders, while
pocketing the rest. Negotiations started in February.
Unite
Here also asked other Nevada locals, elected officials, political
candidates and tourists not to support the hotels and casinos in case
the workers have to walk on or after June 1. “In event of a
strike, please do not cross picket lines,” its announcement
says.
If the
strike gets called that day, another union, the National Hockey
League Players Association, will face a dilemma. The Stanley Cup
title playoffs – hockey’s championship series – will start in
Las Vegas three days before, with the hometown Golden Knights as
hosts.
A call
to the NHLPA about what their members would do was not returned as of
5 pm on May 23. But Khan expects no problems. “We haven’t
contacted them yet, but we will,” she said of the NHLPA. “We’re
sure the players, who are union members themselves, will be in
solidarity with us.”
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