Las Vegas hotel strikers take to streets for civil disobedience

Members of Local 226 sit down in the streets on Nov. 21 as part of a civil disobedience action to draw attention to their strike. | Photo via Culinary Union Local 226

LAS VEGAS (PAI)—Underpaid workers at the Virgin Las Vegas Hotel, members of Unite HERE and its Culinary Workers Local 226, took to the streets in an afternoon rush-hour civil disobedience protest on Nov. 21 to dramatize their cause. Some 57 were arrested on misdemeanor charges.

The 700 guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, cooks, bartenders, and kitchen workers walked out starting at 5 a.m. on Nov. 15. They’re frustrated at the skimpy raises management offered and its refusal to address working conditions, said Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge, the union’s top official. It’s the local’s first strike in 22 years.

Picket lines in front of the hotel have been up round-the-clock every day. And before the workers conducted their civil disobedience during the evening rush hour, they spent the morning of Nov. 21 testifying before the Clark County Commission about their plight.

Las Vegas is the county seat, and Clark County dominates Nevada politics. In turn, the Culinary Workers local and its sister, Bartenders Local 165, are political forces in the Silver State—so politicians, especially in Las Vegas, must pay close attention to them.

“The contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, and workers are fighting for a new contract that secures a better future for their families,” Pappageorge said in a statement when the walkout began.

The union also asked Las Vegas residents and out-of-town guests not to cross its picket line. If visitors were booked at the Virgin Las Vegas, the union offered a list of hotels they could transfer to, in one of the nation’s premier, and busiest, convention cities.

“In negotiations, the company’s proposal works out to an estimated $0.30 per year to wages over five years after deducting money for benefits, compared to non-tipped workers at The Strat, who received over $4 an hour in wage increases this year alone!” Pappageorge elaborated.

“The Virgin Las Vegas’ proposal is miles apart and is an insult to every worker—which is why the committee voted unanimously to refuse to settle for a second-class contract. Workers at Virgin Las Vegas deserve a first-class contract with fair wage increases, and they are organized and ready to strike for it.

“We made hospitality jobs in Las Vegas family-sustaining jobs with decades of sacrifice and strength, and we will continue to win what workers deserve–a great union job with fair wages, job security, and the best health care benefits so that Virgin Las Vegas workers can thrive.”

Hotel managers have retaliated so far by hiring scabs to clean guest rooms, work in the hotel, cook meals, and serve guests drinks, the union reports. “Customers deserve better: High-quality service provided by trained and trusted professionals,” including room cleaners. It notes the strike closed the hotel’s restaurants. In-hotel eateries are a big draw in Las Vegas.

Winning higher wages, better benefits, and safer protections will aid workers of color, the union notes. Overall, the local is 55% women and 60% immigrants. Some 54% are Latina and Latino, 18% are white, 15% are Asian, 12% are Black, and the rest are Indigenous Peoples.

Workers taking their case to the county board put their problem in personal terms, according to quotes the local tweeted on X.

Virgin hotel Cocktail server Maria Saghin told Clark County commissioners, “I’m on strike to win fair pay. I need it for myself, my child, and my grandchild. Everything has gotten so much more expensive, from rent to food to gas to education. My daughter is in college now.

“We ask you, our elected leaders, to support us. We work hard, and one job should be enough. Please make Virgin Hotels Las Vegas understand we need and deserve better,” she added

Food server Aaron Mahan told the board, “Workers have not gotten a raise there since Dec. 1, 2022.

“I am on strike because Virgin Las Vegas does not want to give me and my co-workers the same pay raises other properties like Sahara, Strat, and Westgate got,” he added.

There is one ironic potential lever the Las Vegas local could use to get management to move. A release from the union notes that three big investors own the Virgin Hotel chain, including the Las Vegas hostelry. Two are investment firms, but the third is the Laborers International Union’s pension fund for its members in Ontario, Quebec, and the Canadian Maritime provinces.

The local has yet to contact that pension fund board to explain the situation. Press Associates e-mailed a short summary of the strike and the reasons for it, asking for comment and whether the fund board discussed the Las Vegas strike. There has been no reply yet.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Press Associates

Press Associates Inc. (PAI), is a union news service in Washington D.C. Mark Gruenberg is the editor.