LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥� Hundreds of hotel workers at a casino near the went on strike just before dawn Friday after a long and highly publicized fight for a new contract.
The strike at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas marks the first open-ended strike in 22 years for the Culinary Workers Union, the largest labor union in Nevada, with about 60,000 members.
The union on Friday morning: 鈥淍VirginHotelsLV casino is ON STRIKE! Virgin hotel workers are walking out RIGHT NOW at Virgin Las Vegas for a fair contract! Stand with the workers, DO NOT CROSS THE STRIKE LINE!鈥�
"24/7 picket lines around the property鈥� would be in place during the strike, the union said in a news release, urging customers to cancel reservations or check out and to choose a union accommodation.
The company鈥檚 proposal worked out to an estimated $0.30 per year to wages over five years after deducting money for benefits, Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in the news release.
鈥淭he Virgin Las Vegas鈥� proposal is miles apart and is an insult to every worker 鈥� which is why the committee voted unanimously to refuse to settle for a second-class contract,鈥� Pappageorge said. 鈥淲orkers at Virgin Las Vegas deserve a first-class contract with fair wage increases, and they are organized and ready to strike for it.鈥�
Workers at the casino also earlier this year as negotiations escalated, hoping to pressure Virgin Hotels to agree to a new five-year deal with increased wages and better benefits.
Housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters and bellhops were among those on the picket line Friday outside the hotel-casino, which was formerly the Hard Rock Las Vegas.
It comes exactly a year after casinos up and down the Strip narrowly avoided tens of thousands of hospitality workers on the weekend the city was set to on the famous boulevard. But agreements were reached just before the union's deadline for a strike, a roughly 32% salary increase over the life of the contract, including a 10% bump in pay in the first year.
After the , the Culinary Union for the rest of its members at major hotel-casinos on the Strip, downtown and at off-Strip properties 鈥� with the exception of Virgin Hotels. The contracts on the Strip alone cover more than 40,000 workers.
Bethany Khan, a spokesperson for the union, said Virgin Hotels is the 鈥渇inal holdout.鈥� The union's contract covering about 700 employees there expired in June.
The union says Virgin Hotels does not want to give its workers any wage increases during the first three years of a new five-year contract.
鈥淲e are worth more than zero wage increases,鈥� Merla Paramo, a casino porter, said in a statement provided by the union.
Virgin Hotels said Thursday in a statement that it agreed to some wage increases before the fourth year of a new contract, but the union declined the proposal. Virgin Hotels did not provide specifics on its proposal.
鈥淥ur dedication to our team members鈥� well-being and achieving sustainable performance at our property remains steadfast, and we are fully committed to finding a fair resolution that is in their best interest,鈥� the statement reads.
While Friday's walkout is far smaller in scale than the on the Strip, disruptions are still likely because of Virgin Hotels' location. The 1,500-room property is just off the Strip and along a common route to the tourist corridor from the city's international airport.
The hotel-casino sits on a recognizable lot where an 80-foot(24-meter) neon guitar sign stood for decades. It was removed in 2017 after the Hard Rock closed.
Culinary Union members last went on strike in 2002 for 10 days at the Golden Gate hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas.
Rio Yamat, The Associated Press
