Culinary Union announces Palms Casino Resort has a union contract

ONLINE / TWEET

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088

BREAKING: Culinary Union is pleased to announce that @Palms has a contract & is union! The new union contract protects 900 workers & was ratified today.

Congratulations to Palms workers & welcome to the union family! #YesWeDidhttps://t.co/a98Y8779Rv pic.twitter.com/U2gxGiHOSs

— Culinary Union (@Culinary226) May 24, 2023

Culinary Union announces Palms Casino Resort has a union contract 

Las Vegas, NV – Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 are pleased to announce that on Friday, May 19, 2023 around 3:00am, a new agreement was reached with Palms Casino Resort on a new first time 3-year contract to protect workers with union health care benefits, provide fair wages, job security, and to respect the seniority for over 900 employees.

The new agreement, which protects approximately 900 employees, including guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, cooks, bartenders, and stewards, includes standard union language on worker security regarding subcontracting, safety buttons, sexual harassment, workload, technology, and immigration. A ratification vote by Palms workers was held on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 and workers voted by an overwhelming majority of 95% to accept the new 3-year union contract.

“We celebrate this historic agreement with Palms, which protects workers with the best health care in Nevada, strong job security, and fair wage increases,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “The San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority and Palms Casino Resort have done the right thing by respecting their employees and recalling workers back to work with their seniority intact. The Culinary Union is proud to have reached an agreement for a strong union contract at Palms, which protects workers with the union standard we have fought to build and strengthen over 88 years. Congratulations to the workers on your new union contract and welcome to the union family!”

"I feel happy that we were able to get a contract at Palms for my coworkers and I after we voted to unionize 5 years ago," said Lydia Martin, a banquet food server at Palms for 21 years. "As a day 1 employee, I am getting older, and I have already invested 21 years into this company, so being able to win great health insurance and job security until I'm ready to retire is a relief. I am glad that the Culinary Union got the Right to Return law passed to grant us recall rights after the pandemic and that the company did the right thing for us workers. I'm so happy that we now have a contract and the protection it brings.”

"I joined brothers and sisters to win a strong union contract so that we could have a fair wages and great benefits. I've worked union jobs for the past 11 years and I'm proud to say that Palms is now unionized workplace," said DeVon Fitzhugh, a cook at Palms for 1 year. "I'm thrilled that my coworkers and I have great health care benefits and job security. My wife and I are getting older and Culinary Union benefits are great. Our youngest son is still in college and knowing he is covered by my health insurance is one less thing we have to worry about. I'm happy to have a good union job where we can work one job instead of three. We did it!" 

Palms first opened on November 15, 2001 and 22 years later, it is and will continue to be unionized with a strong union contract which protects current and future generations of workers. In February 2022, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions came to an agreement with the new Palms owners to provide eligible bargaining-unit hospitality workers with Culinary Health Fund benefits, provide for job security, and respect the seniority of employees. Palms actively recalled workers employed at the property at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic closure and worked with the Culinary Union’s Culinary Academy of Las Vegas to host job fairs to fill remaining roles.

Palms workers voted in April 2018 to unionize with the Culinary and Bartenders Unions by a 84% majority under its previous operator, Station Casinos, the worst labor law violator in the history of the Nevada gaming industry. Station Casinos laid off Palms workers during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of an alleged scheme to dilute support for the union, according to an unfair labor practice complaint issued by the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) General Counsel and currently being litigated before the NLRB. 

ABOUT CULINARY UNION:

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.

The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.

The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.

The Culinary Union has a diverse membership which is 55% women and 45% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latinx, 18% white, 15% Asian, 12% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples.  

Culinary Union members work as: Guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting and winning for working families in Nevada for 87 years.

CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226

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