Roughly 700 Virgin Hotel hospitality workers are off the job in Las Vegas today. They went on strike after negotiations over a new contract broke down.
Virgin Hotels Las Vegas announced talks with the Culinary Union stopped, and are off for now.
The union announced the strike on its X account (formerly Twitter) this morning.
This, as Las Vegas casinos prepare for the second annual Formula 1 race to take over the street, and marks the second strike by hospitality workers this year. In May, employees staged a 48-hour walkout before reaching a contract agreement.
However, the union has announced that this strike is open-ended. The last open-ended strike occurred 22 years ago at the Golden Gate in Downtown Las Vegas, lasting 10 days until a new contract was secured.
Accusations and Stalled Negotiations Spearhead Strike
Both sides are not only digging in, they’re pointing fingers.
Virgin Hotels has criticized the union for adopting a 'take it or leave it' approach, arguing that the union's demands are economically unsustainable for the off-Strip property and would negatively impact all hotel staff.
The hotel also noted that it increased employee wages by an average of 30% from 2019 to 2023, and proposed advancing a portion of the wage increases initially allocated for the fourth and fifth years to ensure some raises in the first three years.
According to a hotel spokesperson, the union has had a proposal pending since July 11, but only re-started negotiation on November 8, following the establishment of a strike deadline.
News 3 asked Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer with the Culinary Union about the accusations, “Did you ever present their final offer to the workers to vote on?"
"Oh, absolutely but the company, the workers, actually signed a written petition, 700 strong, rejecting the offer, and we delivered it to the company months ago," Pappageorge said.
What Do Workers Want?
The Union is not happy that Virgin will not agree to the wage increase in the contract that is on the table.
Pappageorge told News 3 that every other Strip and non-Strip hotel signed the agreement, but Virgin is the only holdout. Pappageorge says rising inflation and housing costs is fueling the push for higher wages for culinary workers.
He says the Culinary Union has been in Las Vegas for 90 years and it is prepared to support its workers and fight.
Strike Begins With Las Vegas Grand Prix Looming
The timing of the strike is not the best for Virgin, with the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix next week.
According to a special event permit issued by the Clark County government, the Las Vegas Grand Prix anticipates attracting 102,000 spectators for the F1 race along the Strip corridor from November 20-24. It could make for a tricky situation as hotel guests begin to fill the casino and head to the table games.
If the strike is not over by the time guests arrive, it could impact their stay, although Virgin Hotels Las Vegas stated that the May strike did not affect its operations or guest experience, and it anticipates that this strike will also have no impact on the property.
We’ll have to wait and see what gets to the finish line first. The Grand Prix winner, or a new contract. It remains to be seen.
