Las Vegas (AP) -As Susana Pacheco 16 years ago accepted a budget job in a casino on the Las Vegas Strip, she believed that it was a step towards stability for her and her 2-year-old daughter.
But the single mother was exhausted, fell back to invoices and without access to stable health insurance, which was caught in a cycle with low wages and little support. For years, she said, there was no security net in sight – until now.
For 25 years, her employer, the Venetian, had resisted one of the last holding outs on the strip, which was enclosed in a longer patient situation at the Culinary Workers Union. However, a recent change of ownership opened the doors of the Venetian for the representation of the union, just like the latest casino of the strip, the Fontainebleau, handed over its first employment contract.
The historical deals were completed at the end of last year. It is a gigantic turning point: for the first time in the 90-year history of the culinary union, all essential casinos are organized on the strip. Supported by 60,000 members, most of them in Las Vegas, the largest union in Nevada. Experts say that the success of the cooking union is a remarkable exception in a national landscape in which union membership drops as a whole.
“Together we have shown that changes can be a positive force, and I am confident that this partnership will continue to benefit us in the coming years,” said Patrick Nichols, President and CEO of the Venezian shortly after the workers had approved the deal.
Pacheco says her fresh contract has already redesigned her daily life. The housekeeper no longer drives against the clock to immaculate an unmanageable number of hotel suites, and she spends more time with her children due to the better payment and the guaranteed days off.
“Now we have a voice with the union,” said Pacheco.
The strength of the Union fades nationally
These profits come at a time when the Union’s membership is national at an all -time low and despite the efforts led by Republicans over the years lies over the containment of the union power. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 10% of US workers included a union in 1983, the first year for which data are available.
President Donald Trump signed an executive regulation in March that wanted to end the collective bargaining for certain federal employees who led to union leaders to sue the administration. Nevada and more than two dozen other states now have so -called “right to work” laws that workers can complete from union membership and fees. The GOP legislators have also supported changes to the National Labor Relations Board and other supervisory authorities and tried to reduce what they see as excessive stressful rules for companies.
Ruben Garcia, professor and director of the workplace program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Law School, said that the resilience of the cooking union is due to its deep roots in Las Vegas, their ability to adapt to growth and corporatization of the casino industry, and their long history, elaborate power dynamics with Caso owners and -to navigate operators.
He said the consolidation of casinos on the Las Vegas strip reflects the dominance of the three automobile manufacturers in Detroit. Some powerful companies – MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts – now control most dozens of casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard.
“In a way, this consolidation can make things more difficult, but it also gives unions a big goal,” said Garcia.
This active worked in 2023 in favor of the union, as the risk of a large strike of 35,000 hospitals with expired contracts over the strip. A last-minute deal with Caesars narrowly changed the strike and triggered a domino effect over the strip, with the Union quickly completed similar offers for workers in MGM Resorts and Wynn Properties.
The latest contracts secured a historical payment of 32% over the lifespan of the five -year contract. Union Casino employees earn an average of 35 US dollars, including advantages.
The influence of the Union also goes far beyond the Casino floor. With his ability to mobilize thousands of its members for the advertising and voter documents, the union’s notes are highly desired, especially in Democrats, and can signal who has the best shot in the extraction of votes in the working class.
The union has – and still – resistance to
However, the path of the Union was not always glossy. Michael Green, a history professor at UNLV, found that the culinary union had long been exposed to resistance.
“Historically, there were always people who are against the Union,” said Green.
At the beginning of this year, two workers for food services in Las Vegas submitted federal complaints to the National Labor Relations Board and accused the Union of deducting dependencies despite their objections to union membership. It varies in every casino, but according to the union, between 95 and 98% of employees choose union membership.
“I don’t think culinary Union bosses earn my support,” said one of the workers, Renee Guerrero, who works on the strip in the T-Mobile Arena. “Your actions, since I tried to exercise my right, only confirm my decision.”
But long -time union members like Paul Anthony see things differently. Anthony, a food server in the Bellagio and a culinary member for almost 40 years, said that his trade union advantages – free family health insurance, reliable salary increases, job security and pension – helped him to create a indefinite career in the hotel industry.
“It is often an industry that has no longevity,” he said. But on the strip it is a job that people can do for “20 years, 30 years, 40 years”.
Ted Pappagorge, the secretary of the trade union champion and head of the union, said that the union calls this the “dream of Las Vegas”.
“It was always our goal to ensure that this city is a union city,” he said.
