LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A protest on Thursday landed 23 Culinary Union members in handcuffs as they picketed outside the Virgin Casino in Las Vegas. Union members sat outside the front of the casino blocking the entrance.
This all stems from a labor dispute between Virgin and its hospitality workers — who have been working without a union contract for more than a year since their last one expired on June 1, 2023.
WATCH | Culinary Union members picketing outside the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on Aug. 29, 2024
The Culinary and Bartenders Unions said their members have been fighting for a new five-year contract with the hospitality employer. Among the unions' terms is an increase to employee wages, which they said is needed to meet the rising cost of living. So far, Virgin has not been able to meet those terms as multiple bargaining negotiations have failed.
Virgin filed an unfair labor practice suit with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year, alleging that the union workers were not negotiating in good faith.
This charge came ahead of the Culinary and Bartenders Unions' first strike at the Virgin property on May 10 where hundreds of union members striked outside for a new contract — the same object of dispute for Thursday's picket that led to 23 union members being arrested.
WATCH | Hundreds of Culinary Union members on strike outside the Virgin Las Vegas on May 10, 2024
“We took negotiations to the streets this evening to send a clear message to Virgin Las Vegas that it’s time to do the right by their workers,” said Ted Pappageorge, the Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union and one of the demonstration's leaders.
“The last Main Table negotiations with the company took place in early July, but unfortunately the company continues to stand by its proposal of $0 in raises for the first 3 years (of a 5-year contract). The company hasn’t offered more than zero in wage increases for the first 3 years of the contract since the first day of negotiations and it’s disappointing that we haven’t seen real movement. The contract expired 15 months ago and the Virgin Las Vegas’ proposal and treatment of their own workers who deserve a raise is unacceptable.”
Channel 13 has reached out to Virgin Hotels Las Vegas for comment on Thursday. They have yet to respond.
Earlier this month, the Culinary Union ratified a contract with the Venetian and the Palazzo, the last two holdout properties on the Las Vegas Strip. Today, the union said 100 percent of the Strip is unionized.
