Vegas casino workers union rally on Strip demands jobs back amid record industry recovery

Culinary Union members rallied on Thursday night, starting 5 p.m., partially shutting down the Vegas Strip between Harmon Avenue and Paris Drive. Hundreds of union members in red shirts attended the event, in an effort to push for a return to work.

According to the union, 35% of its 60,000 members have not returned to work 20 months after the pandemic began. Culinary Workers Union president Ted Pappageorge riled the crowd with chants for daily room cleaning and full service restaurants throughout the march.

“If companies are going to charge you the full rate you want to make sure you get full service,” he said, reports Las Vegas Review-Journal. “That means our workers are ready to come back to work and we keep everybody working and providing the kind of services that Las Vegas is famous for.”

According to estimates, over 1,000 people participated in the rally, joined by other unions and allies. “What do we want? Back to work! When do we want it? Now!,” they chanted. The event, called “We will come back stronger,” featured a series of speakers including Geoconda Argüello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer of the union.

Las Vegas hospitality workers are holding a rally to let the world know that they want to clean 🧽 your room, serve you drinks 🍸, and cook you great food 🍳!

Come back to Las Vegas so they can go back to work! #WeWillComeBackStronger pic.twitter.com/lgupja4uNb

— The Culinary Union (@Culinary226) October 29, 2021

The Culinary Union says it wants its gaming partners in the industry to be successful and for tourists to visit Vegas, but asks for hospitality workers to be able to return to work at 100%. “They want loyal customers to return to Las Vegas and workers want to provide the quality service that they know Las Vegas offers,” said the union in its social media accounts.

The union last held a massive rally on September 24, as hundreds of hospitality workers marched down the Las Vegas Strip wearing their uniforms and red union t-shirts.

While the gaming industry rebounded significantly this year, delivering a streak of seven straight months topping $1 billion, the second-longest ever, the union says recovery has been slower for hospitality workers.

“Workers in Las Vegas have built the hospitality industry over the Culinary Union’s 87 years and they should be centered as the economy recovers from the devastating impacts of COVID-19,” claimed the union in a statement prior to the march. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nevada had the highest unemployment rate in September, at 7.5%, tied with California, also at 7.5%. 

While more than a quarter of the valley’s workforce was employed by the hospitality sector prior to the pandemic, with more than 292,000 people working in the sector in Las Vegas in February 2020, the number decreased to 127,000 in May.