Cherie Jackson, a guest room attendant at The Linq hotel-casino, said she took the job for pension benefits nearly a year and a half ago...
“Before COVID, that would’ve been an OK amount,” Jackson, who cares for her disabled father in their Henderson home, said. “But it seems like in the last year and a half the economy has just gone through the roof. I have to drive DoorDash after work to make up the extra money and pay my bills.”
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Operators have remained tight-lipped about the negotiations. But during a keynote at the Global Gaming Expo this week, MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle acknowledged the shifting forces behind pay, particularly for non-tipped workers.
“If you’re a tipped employee in today’s environment in Las Vegas, particularly with the rise in pricing, you’re doing better than you’ve ever done,” Hornbuckle said to an audience of gaming professionals on Tuesday. “If you’re a non-tipped employee and you think about COVID and you think about some of the work rules that have been put in play and what the consumer now wants, 40 percent of the consumers don’t want their room cleaned, which means if you’re a guest-room attendant, you’re getting nothing but checkouts to do. So there’s added pressure on that. And so we understand that. We need to adapt to that.”
Some workers disagree with his comments. James Franklin, a Bellagio banquet server of 25 years, said his tipped position is not bringing in more cashflow.
“I disagree with him,” Franklin said. “In fact, we were disappointed when he said that because it means he’s out of touch with what goes on.”