FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union strikers joined by AFSCME President Lee Saunders and hundreds of AFSCME union members on the Virgin Las Vegas picket line
Las Vegas, NV - On the 61st day of Culinary Union’s longest strike in over two decades, hundreds of strikers on the Virgin Las Vegas picket line were joined by the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union on Tuesday, January 14th. AFSCME President Lee Saunders stood in solidarity with striking workers and delivered remarks to encourage and support their fight as Culinary Union members continue fighting for a new 5-year union contract for 700 hospitality workers.
“We were honored to have President Lee Saunders and hundreds of AFSCME union members stand with us and are proud to have them on our side today and always,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “In negotiations, Virgin Las Vegas insulted workers with an offer of an estimated 30 cents an hour in wage increases (per hour, per year, after benefits are paid) meanwhile Fengate, a massive Canadian billionaire investment manager worth over $9 billion, is the majority owner of Virgin Las Vegas. The billionaire Canadian owners have extremely deep pockets, yet they refuse to meet the standards that other hotels like the Strat and Westgate have already agreed to. Workers at those hotels secured over $4 an hour wage increases in 2024, but that’s not happening at Virgin Las Vegas, and that’s outrageous. We are making it clear to those big Canadian billionaires trying to walk all over workers in Nevada – take your 3 dimes and go back to Canada if you can’t meet the Las Vegas union standards. Virgin Las Vegas workers are strong and they will stay out on strike until they win a contract.”
“We stand in solidarity with the members of UNITE HERE’s Culinary Union fighting for basic fairness and a decent living. AFSCME and the entire labor movement will be Virgin Las Vegas strikers until they win. Let’s fight like hell, make our voices heard, and workers will win a strong contract!” said Lee Saunders, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union of 1.4 million public service workers across the country.
For the first time in more than two decades, the Culinary Union is leading its longest strike, taking workers at Virgin Las Vegas out in an open-ended strike that began November 15th at 5:00am as workers continue fighting for a new 5-year union contract for 700 hospitality workers. Since the strike began, hundreds of striking workers and union members have maintained 24/7 picket lines at every entrance and exit along Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road around the casino property.
The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with Virgin Las Vegas strikers who hail from over 23 different countries, including: Belize, Benin, Bulgaria, Cuba, Denmark, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Mexico, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States.
One week into the strike, 57 Culinary Union members and striking workers from Virgin Las Vegas were arrested November 21, 2024 in an act of peaceful civil disobedience. The labor demonstration drew hundreds of striking workers and union members. During the Thanksgiving holiday, Culinary Union hosted food basket distribution and a holiday dinner on the picket line for strikers. Three weeks into the strike, hundreds of strikers marched to tell Virgin Las Vegas’s billionaire Canadian owners to take their 3 dimes back to Canada. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Congressional representatives Dina Titus and Steven Horsford, Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine, Clark County Commissioners Tick Segerblom and William McCurdy II, and other elected political leaders have supported workers by walking the picket line and visiting with strikers. Nearly four weeks into the strike, Culinary Union released “A Strike Song (VirginLV). One month into the strike: The NFLPA pledged to stand with strikers and called on fans and athletes to not sleep, eat, or drink at Virgin Las Vegas during the strike. Culinary Union hosted STRIKEmas on the picket line, a STRIKEmas Carnival for children of strikers, a holiday food drive-thru, and launched VirginLasVegasAlert.org. Five weeks into the strike, Culinary Union strikers picketed and delivered coal to the front door of the company. Six weeks into the strike, USC released a statement that they have asked repeatedly for hotel alternatives so that the team wouldn’t have to cross a picket line, VirginLV management and company security tried to dismantle parts of the strike line, and Comedian Steve Hofstetter cancelled his show at VirginLV. Seven weeks into the strike, Culinary Union hosted a BBQ on the strike line. Eight weeks into the strike, the company once again tried to dismantle parts of the strike line; the next day UNITE HERE, AFT, NNU, TWU, SAG-AFTRA and IAM union leaders joined the strike line in solidarity; officers of the Adult Performance Artists Guild (APAG) voted unanimously to support Virgin Las Vegas workers on strike and to not cross the picket line in solidarity; and hundreds marched from the Las Vegas Strip to Virgin Las Vegas. At nine weeks, AFSCME joined the strike line in solidarity.
The contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, 2023. Culinary Union has been reaching out to locals, venue performers, customers, investors, company board members, gaming regulators, and community allies about the strike. As the strike continues, the Culinary Union is urging tourists, venue performers, elected officials, and community allies to stay out of Virgin Las Vegas and is actively encouraging customers to cancel their reservation, check out of the property, choose a union accommodation, and eat at union restaurants.
COMING TO LAS VEGAS AND PLANNING TO STAY AT VIRGIN LAS VEGAS? Ahead of Fancy Food Show (January 19-21), World of Concrete Expo (January 21-23), AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (Jan 22-25), The ARA Show (January 30-February 1), 2025 Academic Surgical Congress (February 11-13), CHAMPS Trade Show (February 12-15), Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (February 25-27), Exchange 2025 (March 23-26), Bar & Restaurant Expo (March 24-26), Directions North America 2025 (April 7-9), EDC/Electric Daisy Carnival (May 16-18), and SEIICon (July 14-16), the Culinary Union is asking locals, elected officials, political candidates, conferences/conventions, and tourists to support hospitality workers by not patronizing the Virgin Las Vegas during the strike.
Culinary and Bartenders Unions strikers are from all major areas of operations at Virgin Las Vegas, including housekeeping, food and beverage departments, and the following unionized restaurants: Casa Calavera, Funny Library Coffee Shop, Juice Bar, The Bar at Commons Club, The Kitchen at Commons Club, and The Shag Room.
Virgin Hotels is a lifestyle hospitality brand that Sir Richard Branson's global Virgin Group has pioneered for over 50 years. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is owned by the LiUNA Pension Fund of Eastern and Central Canada (LPFCEC), Fengate Asset Management, and Juniper Capital. LPFCEC, based in Oakville, Ontario, has over C$11 billion in assets; over 150,000 members in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island; and over 27,500 pensioners and beneficiaries. Fengate, with offices in Toronto and Houston, is a real asset and growth equity investor in North America. Juniper, headed by managing partners Jay Wolf, Alex Krys, and Armand Reale, makes direct investments in real estate and advises a variety of institutional clients with a focus on value creation. In August, Nuveen Green Capital, a subsidiary of Nuveen and a TIAA company, agreed to give Virgin Las Vegas $190 million in financing. TIAA serves non-profit institutions & their employees. Nuveen manages assets for clients including its parent company TIAA.
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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 60% 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 90 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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