The Culinary Union, an affiliate of Unite Here, the largest hospitality worker union in the United States, has launched a campaign to organize 10,000 non-union restaurant workers along the Las Vegas Strip. The union is actively engaging in outreach to restaurant workers who are employed in and around unionized casino resorts on the renowned Strip.
It also released a new website, UnionEats.org, which features 366 union restaurants. The union says this new effort enables members of the public to support restaurant workers on the Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas by patronizing unionized establishments.
The first organizing campaign for a non-union restaurant featured on the website is Eataly Las Vegas at Park MGM, an MGM Resorts International casino resort on the Strip. A Spanish mirror of the website will be launched soon, and the website will be updated regularly as the Culinary Union launches organizing campaigns at other non-union restaurants on the Strip in the coming weeks, the statement said.
“While the restaurant industry is booming on the Las Vegas Strip, non-union restaurant workers are being left behind. No one should be forced to work 2-3 jobs to make ends meet to take care of themselves and their families. If restaurant workers have a 40-hour work week, they should be able to live the Las Vegas Dream, especially when restaurants rake in millions of dollars a year,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union.
“There is deep inequality inside Eataly Las Vegas with half of the workers being union and the other half are not, and non-union workers are fed up with being second class. Non-union workers have dedicated years of their life to ensure the success of Eataly Las Vegas, but the success of Eataly Las Vegas has not trickled down to workers,” he added.
Last week, a leadership committee of Eataly workers attended big table negotiations with the Culinary Union and MGM Resorts where they introduced themselves and presented the company negotiators with a petition signed by over 80 of their co-workers demanding that MGM agree to a fair process for workers to decide whether to have union representation without management interference.
According to the union, the average non-union wage in Las Vegas for a food prep and/or serving-related worker is $14.39 an hour or an annual average of $29,920. The union says it advocates for a fair and just workplace where one job provides enough to sustain workers and their families on a 40-hour workweek.
The Culinary Union, comprising the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, serves as the largest chapter within the Unite Here hospitality guild. The union represents a workforce of 60,000 individuals in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, encompassing roles such as guest room attendants, servers, porters, bellmen, bartenders, as well as laundry and kitchen staff.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/noticias/2023/09/08/68679-culinary-union-launches-campaign-to-organize-10-000-nonunion-restaurant-workers-on-las-vegas-strip
