Rory Kuykendall, a bellman at Flamingo Las Vegas, said in September after voting to authorize a strike that he wanted stronger job protection against the inevitable advancements in technology to be written into their new union contract.

It's a fear that Las Vegas hotel workers across the board shared in interviews with The Associated Press since negotiations began in the spring - from the porters and kitchen staff who work behind the scenes to keep the Strip's hotel-casinos running, to the cocktail servers and bellman who provide customers with the hospitality that has helped make the city famous.ĭuring the pandemic, the hospitality industry learned how to 'do more with less,' said David Edelblute, a Las Vegas-based attorney and lobbyist whose corporate clients include gaming and hospitality companies.Īnd that combination, he said, could be 'pretty catastrophic' for the labor force.

'What these companies have seen is that they've been able to reduce labor costs significantly if they can convince guests to reject or relinquish daily room cleaning,' Pappageorge has said while talking about the importance of protecting union jobs. Pappageorge said this week that, even as negotiations came down to the wire ahead of the union's plans to strike, the union and casino companies were the 'farthest apart' on the issue.Ī spokesman for Wynn Resorts said they already offer daily room cleanings and did not cut back on that service during the pandemic. MGM Resorts and Caesars didn't respond to emailed requests for comment about the issue. Some companies say it's because there are environmental benefits to offering fewer room cleanings, like saving water. More than three years later, the once industry-wide standard has yet to make a full comeback. Hotel guests could expect fresh bedsheets and new towels by dinnertime if a 'Do Not Disturb' sign wasn't hanging on their hotel room doors.īut as social distancing became commonplace in 2020, hotels began to cut back on the service. Terms of the deals weren't immediately released, but the union says that the proposed five-year contracts will provide workers with historic wage increases, reduced workloads and other unprecedented wins - including mandated daily room cleanings.īefore the pandemic, daily room cleanings were routine. Most importantly, it's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be okay.''

'These workers understand better than just about anybody that a job is about more than just a paycheck.,' Biden said in a statement.

Review journal strike casinos workers