FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 18, 2024
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Striking Virgin Las Vegas workers visit hotel owner Fengate Asset Management
Striking Virgin Hotels Las Vegas workers delivered their message to Fengate and the US Consulate in Toronto, Calling for an inquiry into Fengate’s role in labor dispute
Toronto, ONTARIO – Striking workers from Virgin Hotels Las Vegas visited the owners of their casino: Fengate Asset Management headquartered in Toronto. Workers at the hotel are on strike to demand a fair union contract. In response, the hotel hired scabs and threatened permanent replacement of striking workers, in violation of international labor standards.
The strikers also visited the US Consulate in Toronto to ask the US Diplomatic mission to urge Employment and Social Development Canada to investigate if Fengate had any role in the decision of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas to threaten strikers with permanent replacement.
Canada is a signatory to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Convention 87 “Freedom of Association and Right to Organize” and Convention 98 “Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining.” A press release from Employment and Social Development Canada in 2017 announcing the ratification of Convention 98 said that the Convention “aims to protect workers against anti-union discrimination by employers” and “promote the right to collective bargaining.” According to the ILO, the right to strike is “an intrinsic corollary of the right to organize protected by Convention No. 87.”
Striking workers are demanding to know if the Toronto-based Fengate Asset Management had any role in Virgin Hotels Las Vegas’s threats to permanently replace strikers which undermine the internationally-protected right to strike.
“I’m on strike because I need a raise, and I need to keep my health insurance. I’m struggling to make ends meet working two jobs right now and I barely have time to see my family,” said Gustavo Rivera, Houseperson at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas for 10 years. “A real raise would mean more time with them. The health insurance is also a priority for my son and I, we both require weekly medical treatment that we cannot afford without our insurance.”
“I’m on strike for a fair contract but management isn’t treating us fairly,” said Yoanice Palmer, GRA at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas for 14 years. “Virgin is threatening to permanently replace us. I came to Toronto to ask Fengate about their role in the strike.”
“I came to Toronto to ask the owner of Virgin – Fengate Asset Management – about its role in the strike because my rent in Las Vegas doubled from $1200 to $2400 and I can’t afford to keep with my home without a fair raise,” said Nathneal Juhar, Housekeeping Runner at Virgin for 6 years.
“We visited Fengate to let them know why we’re on strike and that we’re concerned about Virgin’s decision to threaten us with permanent replacement. We deserve a fair contract. One Job Should be Enough!” said Kanungnit Noce, Cook at Virgin for 8 months and member of Culinary for 21 years.
BACKGROUND:
For the first time in over 22 years, the Culinary Union is leading its longest-lasting strike in more than two decades, taking workers at Virgin Las Vegas out in an open-ended strike that began November 15th at 5:00am as workers continue fighting for a new 5-year union contract for 700 hospitality workers. Since the strike began, hundreds of striking workers and union members have maintained 24/7 picket lines at every entrance and exit along Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road around the casino property.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with Virgin Las Vegas strikers who hail from over 23 different countries, including: Belize, Benin, Bulgaria, Cuba, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Mexico, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States.
One week into the strike, 57 Culinary Union members and striking workers from Virgin Las Vegas were arrested November 21, 2024 in an act of peaceful civil disobedience. The labor demonstration drew hundreds of striking workers and union members. During the Thanksgiving holiday, Culinary Union hosted food basket distribution and a holiday dinner on the picket line for strikers. Three weeks into the strike, hundreds of strikers marched to tell Virgin Las Vegas’s billionaire Canadian owners to take their 3 dimes back to Canada. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Congressional representatives Dina Titus and Steven Horsford, Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine, and other elected officials have supported workers by walking the picket line and visiting with strikers. Nearly four weeks into the strike, Culinary Union released “A Strike Song (VirginLV). One month into the strike: The NFLPA pledged to stand with strikers and called on fans and athletes to not sleep, eat, or drink at Virgin Las Vegas during the strike. Culinary Union hosted STRIKEmas on the picket line, a STRIKEmas Carnival for children of strikers, a holiday food drive-thru, and launched VirginLasVegasAlert.org.
The contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, 2023. For months, the Culinary Union has been reaching out to locals, venue performers, customers, investors, company board members, gaming regulators, and community allies about the strike. As the strike continues, the Culinary Union is urging tourists, venue performers, elected officials, and community allies to stay out of Virgin Las Vegas and is actively encouraging customers to cancel their reservation, check out of the property, choose a union accommodation, and eat at union restaurants.
COMING TO LAS VEGAS AND PLANNING TO STAY AT VIRGIN LAS VEGAS? Ahead of the Las Vegas Bowl (December 27), CES (January 7-10), Fancy Food Show (January 19-21), World of Concrete Expo (January 21-23), AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (Jan 22-25), The ARA Show (January 30-February 1), 2025 Academic Surgical Congress (February 11-13), CHAMPS Trade Show (February 12-15), Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (February 25-27), Exchange 2025 (March 23-26), Bar & Restaurant Expo (March 24-26), 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 during the strike.
Culinary and Bartenders Unions strikers are from all major areas of operations at Virgin Las Vegas, including housekeeping, food and beverage departments, and the following unionized restaurants: Casa Calavera (CURRENTLY CLOSED), Funny Library Coffee Shop, Juice Bar, The Bar at Commons Club, The Kitchen at Commons Club (CURRENTLY CLOSED), and The Shag Room.
Virgin Hotels is a lifestyle hospitality brand that Sir Richard Branson's global Virgin Group has pioneered for over 50 years. 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 C$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 a real asset and growth equity investor 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. In August, Nuveen Green Capital, a subsidiary of Nuveen and a TIAA company, agreed to give Virgin Las Vegas $190 million in financing. TIAA serves non-profit institutions & their employees. Nuveen manages assets for clients including its parent company TIAA.
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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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