MEDIA ADVISORY FOR:
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union continues strike preparations ahead of the Virgin Las Vegas strike on Friday, November 15th
BROLL from making strike @ Virgin picket signs today
Las Vegas, NV - Culinary Union continues final preparations for a strike at Virgin Las Vegas on Friday, November 15, 2024 at 5:00am as 700 hospitality workers continue pushing to win a new 5-year union contract. It will be the Culinary Union’s first open-ended strike in over 22 years. 24/7 picket lines around the property will be in place daily beginning Friday, November, 15th. Culinary Union is already urging customers and community allies to *not* cross the strike line at the Virgin Las Vegas and encouraging customers to cancel their reservation, check out of the property, and choose a union accommodation.
WHO:
*Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for Culinary Union
*Culinary Union members employed at Virgin Las Vegas
WHAT: Strike picket sign making
WHEN: Wednesday, November 13, 2024 from 11am-12pm
WHERE: Culinary Union HQ (1630 South Commerce Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89102).
WHY: The Culinary Union has called for a strike at Virgin Las Vegas beginning on Friday, November 15th at 5:00am as 700 hospitality workers continue pushing to win a new 5-year union contract. It will be the Culinary Union’s first open-ended strike in over 22 years. 24/7 picket lines around the property will be in place daily beginning Friday, November, 15th. Culinary Union is already urging customers and community allies to *not* cross the strike line at the Virgin Las Vegas and encouraging customers to cancel their reservation, check out of the property, and choose a union accommodation.
“The contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, 2023 and workers are fighting for a new contract that secures a better future for their families, that’s why the Culinary Union has called for a strike at the Virgin Las Vegas on Friday, November 15th and urges Las Vegas locals and customers to not cross the strike line in solidarity with the workers,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “In negotiations, the company has proposed $0 in wage increases for the first three years of a 5-year contract, which is unacceptable. Workers at Virgin Las Vegas deserve fair wage increases and they are organized and ready to strike for it. As Virgin Las Vegas workers go on strike, the Culinary Union has their back every step of the way and we will win. Culinary Union celebrates our 89-year anniversary this year and we know first-hand the organizing and militancy it has taken to build Nevada’s middle class and what it takes to ensure working families can thrive. Nothing in our nine decades has been easily won and our good jobs weren’t simply handed to us. 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 continue to provide for their families.”
The most recent Culinary Union strike was in 2002 for 10-days at the Golden Gate in Downtown Las Vegas when workers fought for and won a strong union contract.
The Culinary and Bartenders Unions strike will impact all major areas of operations at Virgin Las Vegas, including housekeeping, food and beverage departments, and the following unionized restaurants: Casa Calavera, Funny Library Coffee Shop, Juice Bar, The Bar at Commons Club, The Kitchen at Commons Club, and The Shag Room. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is owned by the LiUNA Pension Fund of Eastern and Central Canada (LPFCEC), Fengate Asset Management, and Juniper Capital. LPFCEC, based in Oakville, Ontario, has over $11 billion in assets; over 150,000 members in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island; and over 27,500 pensioners and beneficiaries. Fengate, with offices in Toronto and Houston, is one of the most active real asset and growth equity investors in North America. Juniper, headed by managing partners Jay Wolf, Alex Krys, and Armand Reale, makes direct investments in real estate and advises a variety of institutional clients with a focus on value creation.
The Culinary Union is already prepared for the strike by amassing supplies and materials to maintain 24/7 strike stations with multiple picket lines around Virgin Las Vegas. Workers are ready to strike and have signed up for strike pay and picket shifts. For months, the Culinary Union has been contacting locals, customers, investors, company board members and partners, gaming regulators, and community allies about the strike risk and labor dispute at Virgin Las Vegas.
COMING TO LAS VEGAS AND PLANNING TO STAY AT VIRGIN LAS VEGAS? Ahead of Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix (November 21-23), Wrangler NFR Las Vegas 2024 (December 5-14), Las Vegas Bowl (December 27), AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (Jan 22-25), 2025 Academic Surgical Congress (February 11-13), Exchange 2025 (March 23-26), and Directions North America 2025 (April 7-9), the Culinary Union is asking locals, elected officials, political candidates, conferences/conventions, and tourists to support hospitality workers by not patronizing the Virgin Las Vegas, which is in an active labor dispute.
In negotiations, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions have been winning historic victories for workers including:
*Securing the largest wage increases ever negotiated in the Culinary Union’s 89-year-history. The total compensation won by the Culinary Union for over 50,000 is approximately $3 billion over the total five-year contract. Every worker will be getting a 10% wage increase in the first year and a total of 32% in raises over the life of the new contract. The average Culinary Union member earned about $28 an hour (including their benefits) under the previous contract, and by the end of this new five-year contract, the average Culinary Union member will be earning about $37 an hour (including their benefits).
*Reducing workload and steep housekeeping room quotas, daily room cleaning, and establishing the right for guest room attendants to securely work in set areas.
*Providing the best on-the-job safety protections for all classifications, including safety committees, expanding the use of safety buttons to more workers, penalties if safety buttons don’t work, enforcing mandatory room checks for employee and public safety, and tracking sexual harassment, assault, and criminal behavior by customers.
*Strengthens existing technology protections to guarantee advanced notification when new technology is introduced (which would impact jobs) including technologies with artificial intelligence, increases service recognition pay and extended health care and pension fund contributions for workers who are laid off because of new technology, requires training for new jobs created by technology, introduces the right to bargain over technology that tracks the location of employees, requires notification and opportunity to bargain regarding data sharing, and establishes right to compensation for tipped employees if necessary infrastructure for technology fails resulting in a tipped employee who is unable to do their job.
*Extending recall rights so that workers have more job security and have the right to return to their jobs in the event of another pandemic or economic crisis for up to three-years.
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ABOUT CULINARY UNION:
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.
The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.
The Culinary Union has a diverse membership which is 55% women and 60% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latinx, 18% white, 15% Asian, 12% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples.
Culinary Union members work as: Guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting and winning for working families in Nevada for 89 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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