FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Saturday, May 24, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union reaches a tentative agreement with the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas on a new 3-year contract -
Las Vegas, NV – The Culinary and Bartenders Unions are pleased to announce that on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract was reached with MGM Resorts International’s Cosmopolitan Las Vegas covering nearly 2,500 hospitality workers employed at the casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip.
The new tentative agreement includes the largest wage increases ever negotiated in Culinary Union’s 90-year history, which was cemented as the standard during the 2023 Citywide Contract fight and enforced in the Virgin Las Vegas 69-day strike. Additionally, Culinary Union also won workload reductions for guest room attendants, mandated daily room cleaning, increased safety protections for workers on-the-job, expanded technology contract language, extended recall rights, and the right for unionized workers to support non-union restaurant workers seeking to unionize through picketing, leafletting, and other actions.
“The new tentative agreement at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas not only continues to guarantee job security and fair wages for workers, but also upholds the high standards the Culinary Union has tirelessly fought to establish across the entire city. We applaud MGM Resorts and the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas team for agreeing to the same strong language that protects workers in every casino on the Las Vegas Strip,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “Securing a new union contract at Cosmopolitan Las Vegas ensures that Las Vegas remains a place where workers are respected and protected. As the Culinary Union celebrates 90 years of fighting for working families this year, we reflect on the sacrifices and strength that built Nevada’s middle class. Nothing in our nine decades came easily. Victories are the result of militant worker organizing, sacrifice, and determination. We are proud to celebrate a 100% unionized Las Vegas Strip and Culinary Union’s legacy of making hospitality jobs in Las Vegas family-sustaining jobs. This victory is a win for workers, the company, and the future of Las Vegas.
The new deal reached at Cosmopolitan Las Vegas also contains standard union protections negotiated and won over the Culinary Union’s 90-year history, from the best health care benefits, wage increases, owners and successorship language, continued access to Culinary Health Fund, Culinary Health Centers, Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, Culinary and Bartenders Housing Fund, Culinary & Bartenders Legal Service Fund, a Union pension, and includes language on worker security regarding sexual harassment, workload, technology, and immigration.
The new 3-year Cosmopolitan Las Vegas contract expires September 30, 2028, the same timeline as the other casino properties on the recently 100% unionized Las Vegas Strip. Additional specifics of the new union collective bargaining agreement are not disclosed publicly at this time to ensure unionized Cosmopolitan Las Vegas workers have the opportunity to see full details of their contract first and vote whether to accept it. A ratification vote by the membership will be scheduled soon.
“It’s amazing to win the BEST contract EVER! This is our first contract with MGM Resorts and we’re glad to have the same Las Vegas Strip standard as the rest of the MGM Resorts properties on the Las Vegas Strips. The most important parts of the contract for me is winning more job protections, room credit reductions so that guest room attendants have a safer workload and working conditions, and strong economic package and wage increases that we won,” said Stella Kalaoram, a room stylist (guest room attendant) at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and Culinary Union member for 9 years.
“Now that we’ve won the BEST contract EVER at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, I feel happy. I have more protection at work, job security, guaranteed raises, we protected our union health insurance, and won stronger technology language that protects me in the future. My entire life is now more secure,” said Joe Spica, a bellman at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and Culinary Union member for 15 years. “It makes me proud to be part of a union that truly cares and fights every day to improve the lives of working people. To those workers still in the fight at Sphere and LAS Airport: Don’t give up. Stand together and you’ll win. One job should be enough! No one should have to work multiple jobs just to survive. We stand with you!”
“I feel great that we won the best contract ever! The most important part of the contract to me is the raises we won so that we can keep up with the cost of living,” said Teresa Tellis, a linen attendant at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas and Culinary Union member for 6 years. “To other workers still in the fight: Keep your head up and stay with the fight - you will win. We’ve got your back!”
In negotiations, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions have won a greater measure of security for Cosmopolitan Las Vegas workers, including:
*Winning the largest wage increases ever negotiated in the history of the Culinary Union.
*Reducing workload and steep housekeeping room quotas, mandating 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.
*Strengthening existing technology protections to guarantee advanced notification when new technology is introduced which would impact jobs, require training for new jobs created by technology, health care and severance pay for workers who are laid off because of new technology, the right to privacy from tracking technology introduced by companies, notice of third-party data sharing workers have generated through their work, and the right to bargain over technology that tracks location of employees or messaging between workers.
*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.
*Making clear that the no-strike clause does not prevent the Culinary Union from taking action, including picketing and leafleting in support of non-union restaurants workers on the casino property under certain circumstances.
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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 Latino/a, 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% Latino/a, 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 90 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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