Food service workers at a Las Vegas Strip arena demanding higher pay and better benefits are set to rally Thursday evening beneath the glittery lights of the famed tourist corridor amid ongoing negotiations for a union contract.
The Culinary Workers Union, a political powerhouse in Nevada, said in a statement ahead of the rally that servers, dishwashers, cooks and bartenders who work at T-Mobile Arena have been locked in contract negotiations for nearly a year with their employer, Levy Premium Food Service. The workers say they want a fair contract that will ensure “one job is enough to provide for their families.”
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Lucia Orozco has worked as a cook at the arena since it opened in 2016. She described herself and her husband, a hospitality worker at a nearby Strip casino, as hard workers who don’t spend outside of their means. Yet they live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have money saved to retire anytime soon.
“I worry about it because I’m very close to retirement,” the 56-year-old said. “I don’t have too much time left.”
Orozco, who was among the block of union members who voted to authorize a strike, said she wasn’t surprised by the results of the vote.
“Everybody’s tired of not making enough,” she said.
A date for a strike has not been set, but the union said its members have taken major steps toward walking off the job, including making picket signs and signing up for shifts on the picket line.