MGM Resorts and the Culinary Union have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract, according to a local news report from KSNV News Las Vegas. The two were able to come to an agreement nearly 24 hours before the negotiation deadline.
In recent weeks, more than 53,000 union hospitality workers have banded together and picketed in the streets for improved wages. Both the Bartenders Union and the Culinary Workers Union were asking for stronger protections against new technology that could potentially threaten jobs and for higher pay.
Workers also demanded improved safety conditions on the job site and for “a reduction in steep housekeeping quotas.”
The situation intensified when hundreds of workers from Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 gathered outside of the Paris Las Vegas to urge the city’s hotel-casino companies, including Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International.
Dozens of workers were arrested for “staging an act of civil disobedience” in the middle of the Strip during a demonstration outside Paris Las Vegas and the Bellagio.
According to a recent social media post by the Culinary Union, the group met with MGM Resorts for nearly 20 hours to discuss terms for a new contract. The union said the new contract will impact 25,400 workers at eight Las Vegas hospitality properties.
Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge released a statement, stating the union was pleased to move forward regarding the tentative agreement.
He said in his statement, “After seven months of negotiations, we are proud to say that this is the best contract and economic package we have ever won in our 88-year history.”
