LAS VEGAS: The largest labor union in Nevada called off a 48-hour strike on Sunday in an attempt to put pressure on Virgin Hotels Las Vegas to accept a five-year wage and benefit agreement.
At the 1,500-room hotel-casino close to the Las Vegas Strip, more than 700 employees of Culinary Union Local 226 went on strike on Friday morning and ended it on Sunday morning. The next scheduled day of contract negotiations is Tuesday.
The people manning the picket line in front of Virgin Hotels, formerly the Hard Rock Las Vegas, included guest room attendants, servers of cocktails and food, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, and laundry and kitchen workers.
Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the union, said workers hoped the 48-hour strike would help expedite a new agreement. The union’s contract with Virgin Hotels expired 11 months ago.
Earlier this year, union members at other Las Vegas-area properties reached deals giving them a roughly 32% salary increase over five years, including 10% in the first year.
The last time Culinary Union members went on strike was in 2002 at the Golden Gate hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas.
Virgin Hotels filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board last week ahead of the anticipated strike, accusing the union of failing to negotiate in good faith. Pappageorge disputed the claim.
Last year, the union authorized a citywide strike prior to Las Vegas hosting the Super Bowl. But it eventually reached an agreement with major hotel-casinos on the Strip for about 40,000 workers and with most downtown and off-Strip properties for 10,000 workers.
