FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, May 26, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union reaches a tentative agreement with Resorts World Las Vegas on a new three-year contract -
Las Vegas, NV – The Culinary and Bartenders Unions are pleased to announce that on Friday, May 23, 2025, a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract was reached with Resorts World Las Vegas protecting nearly 2,000 hospitality workers employed at the casino resort located on the Las Vegas Strip.
The new tentative agreement includes the largest wage increases ever negotiated in the Culinary Union’s 90-year history, a standard set during the 2023 Citywide Contract fight and reinforced by the 69-day strike at Virgin Las Vegas. The contract also secures comprehensive union contract language won over decades of organizing, including the best health care benefits, continued access to the Culinary Health Fund, Culinary Health Centers, the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, the Culinary and Bartenders Housing Fund, and the Culinary & Bartenders Legal Service Fund. Workers will benefit from a guaranteed union pension, strong owners and successorship language, and extended recall rights. Additional wins include mandated daily room cleaning, workload reductions for guest room attendants, increased on-the-job safety, and expanded protections regarding sexual harassment, technology, and immigration.
“We are proud to have won a terrific new union contract for workers at Resorts World Las Vegas,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “Culinary Union applauds the company for agreeing to protect their employees with a strong union contract that is the Las Vegas Strip standard. While the company is relatively new to the Las Vegas Strip, we’ve been able to build on long-standing relationships with individuals across the negotiations table - people we’ve bargained with for years, to reach a deal for the best contract ever at Resorts World Las Vegas that meets the high Las Vegas Strip standards that workers deserve. We did what strong labor relations require: Sat down, had hard conversations, and came out with a strong tentative agreement that covers nearly 2,000 workers with fair wages, job security, and the best health care in Nevada. Resorts World Las Vegas made the decision to do the right thing and this first-class union contract sets the foundation for a successful future for the property, the company, and the workers.”
The new 3-year Resorts World Las Vegas contract expires September 30, 2028, the same timeline as the other casino properties on the recently 100% unionized Las Vegas Strip. Additional specifics of the new union collective bargaining agreement are not shared publicly at this time to ensure unionized Resorts World Las Vegas workers have the opportunity to see full details of their contract first and vote whether to accept it. A ratification vote by the membership will be scheduled soon.
“I’m so happy because we won a new union contract that’s going to benefit us all with fair wage increases and more protections at work,” said Lucila Zamora, a guest room attendant at Resorts World Las Vegas and Culinary Union member for 13 years. “We won our BEST contract EVER. Yes, it was a lot of work, late nights, and we were tired, but it was worth it because this new contract will change lives. I’m proud that no one gave up, everyone stayed united, and we won!”
“I’m excited that we won this new union contract!” said Tania Morales, a casino porter at Resorts World Las Vegas and Culinary Union member for 7 years. “I’ve been at this property since it opened and I am so proud to walk into my next shift and tell my co-workers that we won the BEST contract EVER! This is a groundbreaking contract. We won wage increases and protected our union pension. The victories we fought for and won is life changing. We all work so hard to take care of our families and with this contract, we’ll continue to have job security and peace of mind.”
“It’s a very exciting for all of us,” said Eric Cuomo, a bartender at Resorts World Las Vegas and Bartenders Union Local 165 member for 7 years. “This was a long negotiation and like they say, sometimes making a contract is like making sausage, but the end result is amazing. We won the BEST contract we’ve EVER had! We got strong wage increases and real wins that matter. We won important protections and victories for front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house workers and I was so proud to see every department stand strong together!”
In negotiations, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions have won a greater measure of security for workers, including:
*Winning the largest wage increases ever negotiated in the history of the Culinary Union.
*Reducing workload and steep housekeeping room quotas, mandating daily room cleaning, and establishing the right for guest room attendants to securely work in set areas.
*Providing the best on-the-job safety protections for all classifications, including safety committees, expanding the use of safety buttons to more workers, penalties if safety buttons don’t work, enforcing mandatory room checks for employee and public safety, and tracking sexual harassment, assault, and criminal behavior by customers.
*Strengthening existing technology protections to guarantee advanced notification when new technology is introduced which would impact jobs, require training for new jobs created by technology, health care and severance pay for workers who are laid off because of new technology, the right to privacy from tracking technology introduced by companies, notice of third-party data sharing workers have generated through their work, and the right to bargain over technology that tracks location of employees or messaging between workers.
*Extending recall rights so that workers have more job security and have the right to return to their jobs in the event of another pandemic or economic crisis for up to three-years.
—
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 Latino/a, 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% Latino/a, 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
###