Updated at 1:35 p.m., Thursday, September 13, 2007
Las Vegas hotel workers authorize union to call strike
Advertiser Staff
Workers at 14 Las Vegas casinos yesterday overwhelmingly voted to authorize their union to call for a strike if contract agreements aren't reached.The vote covers about 10,000 workers at 12 downtown Las Vegas hotels and casinos and two properties on The Strip. The workers are members of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165 who have been working on contract extensions.
No walkout is expected immediately and the vote only gives union officials the ability to call for a strike if negotiations should break down. The last time the union went on strike was in May 2002 when workers at the downtown Golden Gate casino walked off their jobs after failing to reach an agreement with management.
The strike vote also covers unionized workers at two industrial laundries.
The hotels that would be affected are: Binion's, El Cortez, Fitzgerald's, Four Queens, Fremont, Golden Gate, Golden Nugget, Jerry's Nugget, Las Vegas Club, Las Vegas Hilton, Main Street, Plaza, Tropicana and Western. The laundries are Al Phillips and Mission Industries.
