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Las Vegas Culinary Union Pickets Continue

Members of the the Culinary Union paint a wall at a union hall Friday, June 1, 2018, in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/John Locher)

Members of the the Culinary Union paint a wall at a union hall Friday, June 1, 2018, in Las Vegas.

The Culinary Union in Las Vegas authorized a strike about two months ago.

Since then, it has come to an agreement on contracts with some of the largest casino companies in Southern Nevada, including the two largest, MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment.

Those contracts cover about 46,000 workers. However, the union is still negotiating for contracts to cover another 4,000 workers at some of the smaller resort companies.

To help push that agenda along, workers will picket at Margaritaville, The D and the Golden Gate hotel and casino on July 20.

It’s their second picket this month, and the union expects the pickets to continue.

Bethany Khan is the director of communications with the Culinary Workers Union Local 226. 

She told KNPR's State of Nevada the union is still working to get language covering immigration status, sexual harassment, wage equality, pay raises and job protection into the contracts.

"These are strike issues," Khan said. "These are issues that are really important to Culinary Union members. These are issues that have been secured in contracts recently inked."

Khan said the issues are serious, and while they are committed right now to negotiations with the casino companies, a strike is still possible.

"We are main focused on contract negotiations, but there are some big issues on the table and if the companies don't sign then we'll have to think about next steps," she said.

 

Bethany Khan, director of communications, Culinary Workers Union Local 226

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Kristy Totten is a producer at KNPR's State of Nevada. Previously she was a staff writer at Las Vegas Weekly, and has covered technology, education and economic development for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She's a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism.