Two large trade unions in Nevada – the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 – overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike on Tuesday. Some 53,000 hospitality workers were eligible to vote in the strike authorization, as per a press release.
Screenshot of X post on September 27, 2023, by Culinary Union in nevada, US.
© Photo : Culinary226/X
The unions' workers – cooks, housekeepers, porters, bartenders, food servers, and other hotel employees in Las Vegas – are demanding better pay, a reduced workload, and provision of safety protections, among other things. Contracts for about 40,000 of these workers expired on September 15, with many said to be working on extended contracts that can be terminated by the employer at any moment. With many workers struggling to juggle several positions, they were quoted as saying that "one job should be enough."
"No one ever wants to go on strike... But working class folks and families have been left behind, especially since the pandemic,” said Ted Pappageorge, the head of Local 226.
No date has been set for a walkout, but if a strike were to take place, it would affect over three dozen casinos and hotels that power the economy of the city. The unions are to continue further negotiations with resorts and casinos on the Strip, such as Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts International, it was added.
On the same day as the hospitality workers in Las Vegas cast their votes to authorize a walkout, US President Joe Biden engaged in a spot of pre-2024 election campaigning at a General Motors plant in Van Buren Township, Michigan. United Auto Workers (UAW) at the Michigan Assembly Plant, the Toledo Complex, and the Wentzville Assembly plant are on strike, demanding better working conditions and pay.
Biden briefly joined the picket line to tout the importance of the very same American middle class that his "Bidenomics" has left reeling. The POTUS has been claiming that Bidenomics works, while only 36% of Americans approve of Biden's handling of the economy. Labor battles have been raging nationwide.
As to the Hollywood strike, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has said it will end its walkout on Wednesday. Its board voted in favor of a three-year deal with movie and TV producers to include improved pay, benefits, protections against studio use of artificial intelligence, and guarantees for streaming compensation, among other gains. However, a deal has yet to be made with the actors union SAG-AFTRA since its strike started in July.