Tl;dr – The Culinary Workers Union represents over 60,000 workers in The Silver State.
In Vegas, many hospitality workers are celebrating a milestone win – all major Las Vegas Strip Casinos have agreed to terms with the Culinary Workers Union (CWU). The doors to this milestone opened back in 2023, when the industry narrowly avoided a large strike and Caesars became the first major resort to agree to a deal. The last holdouts ended with recent deals with the Venetian and Fontainebleau resorts.
This news comes at a time when tourism to the popular gaming and entertainment city has significantly decreased. It also comes at a time when union memberships, nationwide, across any industry, are at an all-time low.
Most casinos in Vegas are now controlled by just three entities – MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Resorts. Many people, including University of Nevada law professor Ruben Garcia, professor and director of the school’s workplace program, have drawn analogies between the casino consolidation in the casino industry and that of the automotive industry in Detroit. The CWU’s membership base makes it the United Auto Workers (UAW) of Vegas.
In a recent round of contract negotiations, CWU ‘secured a historic 32% bump in pay over the life of the five-year contract. Union casino workers will earn an average $35 hourly, including benefits, by the end of it.’ In some workplaces, these benefits include ‘free family health insurance, reliable pay raises, job security, and a pension.’
