·  Mirna Preciado; Culinary Union member since 1988

My name is Mirna and I'm a Culinary Union member

My name is Mirna and I'm a Culinary Union member

Mirna Preciado
Frontier Striker
Culinary Union member since 1988 (For 26 years!)

I came from Mexico and I didn't speak any English. I applied at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas as a waitress in 1988. 

I didn't have any idea of what a union means to me and my family. It took me a few years for some shop stewards to talk to me. I used to call them trouble makers because I didn't believe in the union. 

But after I learned what the union is all about, I call them my guardian angels. I signed a union card and I said from "now on, I'm going to be involved." In 1991, I went on strike at the Frontier Hotel. 6 years, 4 months, and 10 days. 

I started working as a SALT at the MGM Grand, then became a committee leader there, while on strike at the Frontier. We became union at the MGM after 5 years and the Frontier strike ended. Then I started working at the Culinary Union in 1999. 

Now my mission is to wake up members to see what the labor movement is and become part of a larger fight to win workers rights in Las Vegas. I have two daughters, 40 and 30 years old, two beautiful women. 

If I die tomorrow, I know that they will stand up and fight for their rights and they won't let anyone push them down. They know that you have to sacrifice to accomplish anything good in life. That lesson is the best education I could give to them, and now to any member I work with. 

PS. I'm not dying yet. I still have a lot to organize in Las Vegas. Station Casinos, here I come!