Video / LIVESTREAM: Culinary Union celebrates LV Strip becoming 100% union w/US Dept. of Labor @ Venetian

LIVESTREAM: Culinary Union celebrates LV Strip becoming 100% union w/US Dept. of Labor @ Venetian

The Culinary Union and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Labor Secretary Julie A. Su celebrated the Las Vegas Strip becoming 100% unionized on Thursday, September 19, 2024 at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas. Attendees of the event celebrated the historic first union contract that was reached between the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, which was the final casino resort on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip to be covered by a Culinary and Bartenders Unions collective bargaining agreement. The Culinary and Bartenders Unions and The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, which includes The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort, announced that a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract was reached Tuesday, August 20, 2024, at 6:42am Pacific. This is a first-time union contract covering over 4,000 of The Venetian Resort Team Members in the food, beverage, housekeeping, bar, lounge, and bell departments as the property officially becomes unionized after 25 years. The tentative agreement was put to a vote, and the response was overwhelming. In a powerful display of unity, 99% of workers voted 'YES' to ratify the historic first-time union contact in that property’s history. The milestone union contract at The Venetian Resort contains standard union protections negotiated and won over the Culinary Union’s 89-year history: Health care benefits, owners and successorship, access to Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, Culinary and Bartenders Housing Fund, Culinary & Bartenders Legal Service Fund, Culinary Union Pension, and includes language on increased worker security regarding sexual harassment, technology, and immigration, and a choice regarding health care benefits. The agreement also secures the largest wage increases ever, workload reductions and 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. After 25 years of persistence, the Venetian is now unionized and will forever be. Culinary Union celebrates the achievement of the Las Vegas Strip becoming 100% UNION with Venetian/Palazzo workers and recognize all of the workers, past and present, who organized to win a better future for those to come.