FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, February 28, 2025
(Monday, December 30, 2024)
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union wins first-time union contract with Fontainebleau Las Vegas, every casino on the Las Vegas Strip is 100% union
Las Vegas, NV – The Culinary and Bartenders Unions celebrate that after 18 consecutive hours of negotiations, a tentative agreement on a new union contract with Fontainebleau Las Vegas was reached on December 19, 2024, at 3:30am and was ratified on December 30, 2024. Just over a year after the resort opened on the north end of Las Vegas Strip, workers secured their first-ever union contract, effective January 1, 2025, through September 30, 2028. The new agreement covers nearly 3,300 guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, and kitchen workers.
For the first time in Culinary Union’s 90-year history, every casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip is unionized. The Culinary Union celebrates the achievement of the Las Vegas Strip being 100% union with Fontainebleau Las Vegas workers and recognizes all of the Culinary Union members, past and present, who organized to win a better future for those to come.
“One year after Fontainebleau Las Vegas opened on the Strip, the Culinary Union is thrilled to welcome 3,300 workers to our union family. Congratulations to Fontainebleau Las Vegas workers on achieving a strong, first-time union contract!” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “This milestone agreement not only guarantees job security and fair wages, but also upholds the high standards the Culinary Union has tirelessly fought to establish across Las Vegas. We applaud Fontainebleau Las Vegas for stepping up and doing the right thing by adopting the same strong language that protects workers in every casino along the Las Vegas Strip. We recognize that the company’s commitment to their employees demonstrates leadership and sets a powerful example of collaboration in the hospitality industry. Securing a union contract at Fontainebleau Las Vegas ensures that Las Vegas remains a place where workers are valued, respected, and protected. As the Culinary Union celebrates 90 years of fighting for working families, 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 relentless worker organizing and determination. We are proud to see Fontainebleau Las Vegas join the 100% unionized Las Vegas Strip, strengthening the legacy of making hospitality jobs in Las Vegas family-sustaining jobs. It’s a win for workers, for the company, and for the future of Las Vegas.”
The new union agreement for this first-time contract came just over one year after the Culinary and Bartenders Unions entered into a card-check neutrality agreement with Fontainebleau, which opened December 13, 2023, on the Las Vegas Strip. A committee of 150 Fontainebleau Las Vegas workers participated in a series of main table bargaining sessions and subcommittee meetings since negotiations began August 2024. The negotiating committee voted December 19, 2024 to tentatively agree to this new contract and recommend it to their fellow co-workers for approval. On December 30, 2024, the newly unionized Culinary Union members at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas voted by 99.6% to ratify the new contract.
The first-time Fontainebleau Las Vegas union contract, secured after just four months of negotiations, includes the standard strong union protections established over the Culinary Union’s 9 decades and in place at every casino on the Las Vegas Strip: Culinary Health Fund benefits, access to Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, Culinary and Bartenders Housing Fund, Culinary & Bartenders Legal Service Fund, Culinary Union Pension, owners and successorship, and includes language on enhanced worker security regarding sexual harassment, technology, and immigration. The new agreement also secures the largest wage increases ever, workload reductions, daily room cleaning for guest room attendants, safety protections for workers on-the-job, recall rights, and the right for unionized workers to support non-union restaurant workers seeking to unionize through picketing, leafletting, and other actions.
“I’m glad that we have a union at Fontainebleau to protect our rights and ensure that we have job security,” said Kila Boswell, a guest room attendant at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas for 1 year. “For me, the most important part of the contract was winning fair wage increases so that we can support our families and save for the future. Winning a union at Fontainebleau Las Vegas means that we have the best union health benefits, that we have union to support us, and that we are now going to able to provide for our families. I’m so happy to have won our contract!”
“I wanted Fontainebleau Las Vegas to be union so that I could have job security and stability. The most important part of the contract for me is the union benefits - especially health care and a pension,” said Matthew Bonner, a utility porter at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas for over 1 year. “Coming from a background where I didn’t have much, it’s important to me to build a future for myself and my family. Having a strong union contract gives me the ability to save for retirement and feel secure knowing I’m taken care of. We’re ready for the union.”
“Winning a union at Fontainebleau Las Vegas means that our rights and benefits are guaranteed and that our future is protected,” said Andre Longoria, a bartender at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas for 1 year. “For me, securing successorship language and the grievance process were important and I’m glad we won those protections. Winning a strong union contract today means peace of mind and protections for my co-workers and I. The contract ensures that we have a voice at work and I’m proud to stand with the union.”
—
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 90 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
###