As part of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast's ongoing effort to share the issues unions face across the country, we featured portions of the May 23 press conference from UNITE HERE! Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer, Ted Pappageorge, where he discussed the ongoing negotiations with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. He discussed the strike at the property held from May 10-12 and his thoughts on the progress of negotiations since the strike.
For the first time in over 22 years, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions led more than 700 hospitality workers in a strike at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. As workers continue to push for a new five-year contract, Virgin Las Vegas has not been bargaining in good faith, Pappageorge said. A planned 48-hour strike at the resort began Friday, May 10 and ended Sunday, May 12. Following that strike, the owners of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, JC Hospitatlity, LLC, returned to the bargaining table, and according to Pappageorge, there was some movement in the negotiations.
Over the 48-hour strike, all major areas of operations at Virgin Las Vegas were impacted, including housekeeping, food and beverage and several of the unionized restaurants. This comes after 2023 saw members of the Culinary and Bartenders Unions authorize a city-wide strike resulting in what Pappageorge called the best contract ever for the nearly 50,000 workers for 30 of the 31 properties in Las Vegas. After the contract expired in 2023, the only property left to negotiate a contract has been Virgin Las Vegas.
During the press conference, Pappageorge reiterated the ownership's lack of good-faith negotiations. Despite notifying the company of the days their worker-led negotiation team could meet, Pappageorge said the company only offered one date, a date members couldn’t take off from work to negotiate. This comes after the company delivered a last and best offer through the press and complained that the union was asking for unreasonable wage demands. Pappageorge replied to these complaints by saying that the offer to Virgin Las Vegas is the same as their demands to the other 27 independent properties, all of whom have agreed to the demands over the past year.
To hear more from Pappageorge’s press conference, please listen to the show above.
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