Culinary Union to Strike at Strip Casinos on Friday and Downtown Casinos on Monday

Culinary Union members in Las Vegas are considering an informational picket after failing to reach a new contract agreements with casino hotels on the Strip. Employees at several properties are threatening to walk off their jobs, demonstrating their desire for new contracts.

The strike is scheduled for tomorrow and will see Culinary Union members working at the Rio Las Vegas, SAHARA Las Vegas and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas leave their workplaces. The Culinary Union also announced that it is planning to begin 36 hours of nonstop picketing of all unsettled casinos.

According to the Union, tomorrow’s demonstration would be an informational picket and not a strike.

Wherever there is an active picket line outside of an unsettled casino, the Culinary Union will be urging customers and community allies to not cross the picket line on Friday and Saturday.

Culinary Union statement

In the meantime, the Culinary Union pushed forward the strike deadline until Monday, February 5, for the 10 downtown Vegas properties without contracts. These include Binion’s, Circa, Downtown Grand, El Cortez, Four Queens, Fremont, Golden Gate, Golden Nugget, Main Street and The D Casino.

As negotiations progress, Culinary Union moves strike deadline to Feb. 5 for 10 DTLV properties, will begin 36-hours of continuous picketing of all unsettled casinos. Strike deadline for Rio, Sahara, & Virgin remains on 2/2.

Culinary Union statement

The Union Already Achieved a Number of Victories

For reference, a whopping 2,600 workers in the Las Vegas hospitality industry are currently working without a contract and are now seeking a five-year agreement. The negotiations continue as Culinary Union members are yet to sign definitive agreements.

In the meantime, the Culinary Union already achieved several victories after successfully negotiating with MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. The union also reached an agreement with the Plaza casino in downtown Vegas, as well as with a number of Strip independents, namely Circus Circus, Four Seasons, Hilton Grand Vacations, Mirage/Hard Rock, Strat, Treasure Island, Tropicana, Trump Hotel, Waldorf Astoria and Westgate.

In the meantime, the potential strikes threaten to interfere with the Super Bowl preparations, providing the Culinary Union with extra leverage.