“We’re striving to get this contract because it’s very important for the people who live in Las Vegas, the families that live in this town,” Paul Anthony, a food server at the Bellagio since it opened, told reporters in a virtual news conference. “It’s very important for working people and for all of Las Vegas.”
Negotiators have met all the while and some progress was made on wage increases, the union and some operators previously said. But other major union concerns — like increased deployment of job-replacing technology, on-the-job safety, daily room cleanings and adjustments to the no-strike clause at nonunion restaurants — haven’t been addressed to the union’s satisfaction.
Pappageorge said their union contracts have language that give workers six months’ notice if their job will be replaced by technology, but some operators have tried to cut those protections. Negotiators are pushing for daily room cleaning and lower housekeeping quotas by attempting to reduce the places where a guest can opt out of cleanings. The union wants to leave it at a “do not disturb” sign on the door.