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On Tuesday, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, along with hundreds of AFSCME members, joined the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 strike line at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas. On day 61 of the Culinary Union’s longest strike in over two decades, hundreds of strikers continue fighting for a new 5-year contract for 700 hospitality workers.
The contract at Virgin Las Vegas expired on June 1, 2023. Since then, Local 226, an affiliate of UNITE HERE, has reached a strong, 5-year contract with every other union property on and off the Las Vegas strip – except the Virgin Las Vegas. The workers’ strike began on Nov. 15 and has continued 24/7 since then.
The Virgin Hotel is owned by Fengate Asset Management, a massive Canadian money management firm that is worth over $9 billion. Their offer to the striking workers averages out to an estimated $.30 per hour over a five-year contract, well below the $4 wage increases other Las Vegas hospitality workers won in their contracts during the most recent negotiations.
“This company, they said they couldn’t find their money. We got a nine-billion-dollar financial fund from Canada that owns this company. The reality is, they just don’t like their workers. The workers at the Virgin Hotel, they’re not going anywhere – they’re going to fight until we win a great contract at the Virgin Hotel,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 226.
Diana Valles, president of Local 226, said, “If the Virgin Hotel and billionaires from Canada think that these workers are going to give up, let me tell you one thing: we’re going to stay here all day, all night until these workers get the same contract that every other hospitality worker in this town has.”
“All or none. We’re going to show them we deserve the same contract as other hospitality workers,” said Lee McNamara, a cook at Virgin Hotel. “We’re going to be out here as long as it takes,”
AFSCME President Lee Saunders brought a message of support to the striking workers.
“The mean, Green Machine is here!” he said. “We have fought so many times together. You have helped us, and we have helped you – we are there for you until you finish this fight. We want these folks to understand, when you mess with one, you mess with all of labor. We will support you until you win a fair and decent contract.”