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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hundreds of hospitality workers at a casino near the Las Vegas Strip walked off the job just before dawn Friday amid a long and highly contentious fight for a new contract.
The work stoppage 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.
Workers at the casino also walked off the job for two days earlier this year as negotiations escalated, hoping to pressure Virgin Hotels to agree to a new five-year deal with higher wages and better benefits.
Housekeepers, porters, bellhops and servers picketed outside the hotel-casino, which was formerly the Hard Rock Las Vegas.
Michael Renick, a bartender who has worked at Virgin Hotels for about two years, said he's already used to living paycheck to paycheck and closely monitoring his bank balance. That's why, he said, he was willing to go on strike for as long as it takes to get a fair contract, even if it means getting a second job during the strike.
“I'm ready to go for as long as I need to, and I'm pretty sure that's how everyone else is feeling too,” he said.
The union pays striking workers $500 per week for picketing shifts for at least five days.
Virgin Hotels said in a statement that it is focused on reaching a deal with the union that is “economically viable” for both its union workers and its other employees.
“Our dedication to our team members’ 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,” the company said.
The strike comes a year after casinos up and down the Strip narrowly avoided tens of thousands of hospitality workers walking off the job on the weekend the city was set to host its first Formula One race on the famous boulevard. But agreements were reached just before the union's strike deadline, giving workers a roughly 32% salary increase over the life of the contract, including a 10% bump in pay in the first year.
After the breakthrough deals last November, the Culinary Union quickly reached similar agreements for the rest of its members at major hotel-casinos on the Strip, downtown and at off-Strip properties — 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 “final holdout.” The union's contract covering about 700 employees there expired last June.
Both the union and Virgin Hotels said negotiations stalled because of disagreements over pay.
Ted Pappageorge, the union's secretary-treasurer, said the company’s latest proposal amounted to an estimated $0.30 more annually to wages over five years after deducting additional money union workers would have to contribute to their benefits.
“The Virgin Las Vegas’ proposal is miles apart and is an insult to every worker, which is why the committee voted unanimously to refuse to settle for a second-class contract,” Pappageorge said.
Virgin Hotels said Thursday night that it has tried to compromise with the union by offering earlier pay raises during a new five-year contract instead of only in the fourth and fifth years, but that “the union chose to engage in ‘take it or leave it’ bargaining.”
Although Friday's walkout is far smaller than the strikes planned for last year on the Strip, disruptions are still likely at the 1,500-room property. The union says “24/7 picket lines” will be in place during the strike around the property located 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.
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Associated Press videojournalist Ty ONeil in Las Vegas contributed to this report.