FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Media Contact:
Bethany Khan ▪ BKhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Executive Bonuses Questioned at Caesars Entertainment Shareholder Meeting as Workers Hold National Day of Action
Las Vegas, NV – Union workers from casino company Caesars Entertainment will hold a national day of action today, Wednesday, May 18, 2016 in six cities across the country to challenge executive bonuses that could total up to almost $50 million in 2016 alone and payments to Caesars’ owners, Apollo and TPG.
Throughout the country, workers will demand to meet with property level executives to criticize executive bonuses. Additionally, in Las Vegas at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Culinary Union members will challenge the company’s plans.
Dan Lynch, a bartender at Harrah’s Atlantic City, will ask: “Top-rate workers have gotten eighty cents in raises over the last 12 years and you haven’t even met with us yet. Are executive bonuses more important to Caesars than the workers that make the beds and pour the drinks?”
In addition to bonuses, UNITE HERE will challenge the company on the $59 million that Caesars paid to its private equity owners Apollo and TPG and their affiliates. Maya Holmes, a UNITE HERE researcher, will ask, “$20 million of that were expense reimbursements to Apollo and TPG for ‘financial and strategic advisory services and consulting services.’ What kind of advice did the company get for that $20 million?”
Leain Vashon, a bell captain at the Paris Casino in Las Vegas, will say, “When Caesars wants to give almost $50 million in bonuses this year to a small group of mostly executives and offers much less to thousands of its workers, we question what you really value.“
Workers from Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Biloxi, Tunica, Baltimore and Southern Indiana will protest the proposed bonuses by sending delegations to Caesars management.
In Baltimore, Elton McQueen will participate in a delegation to Horseshoe Baltimore management. He said: “We have been negotiating for almost a year and Caesars wants to give themselves bonuses while they haven’t even offered us raises. They promised our city good jobs and this is outrageous.”
UNITE HERE is currently negotiating contracts or wage reopeners for approximately 15,000 Caesars workers.
Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent over 57,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. UNITE HERE represents 270,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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