Thousands of cooks, housekeepers, bartenders, bellboys and waiters who are members of the Culinary Union marched along the Strip Friday night to urge the casinos to get them back to work.
Culinary According to a statement by the union, 21,000 members, or 35 percent, have been unemployed locally since the pandemic began. Local 226 represents 300,000 gaming, hotel and hospitality workers across North America, including 60,000 Las Vegas members.
“Stop working with a skeleton crew,” said Mario Sandoval, a former Binion waiter who was fired in March 2020 after 36 years at the casino. “We are ready to work. The tourists are here. Bring us back. “
He found a part-time job in July but said he quit when he was told Binion would need him again that same month. He was never called back to start work.
“Even as a customer, I gamble and I can’t even have a drink,” he said. “There are no cocktail servers.”
Housekeeper Regina Wright said many of her co-workers still don’t know if they were fired because they were laid off 18 months ago and are in limbo.
“It’s time for the staff to return,” she said, noting how busy the strip was on Friday night. “We’re busy again.”
Union members shouted “daily housekeeping”, “union power” and “si se puede” – “yes we can” – as they marched north and south through several alleys of Las Vegas Boulevard.
“We want customers; we are ready to serve, ”said union spokeswoman Bethany Khan. “We’re here to educate Las Vegas and the world. We want to go back to work. We are ready to serve, clean and disinfect. “
The union did not target specific casinos as Khan said that every casino in Las Vegas employs union members in some way.
“We want them all to work again,” says housekeeper Viola Varor. “I came back last year, but most of the people didn’t get any calls.”
Union Secretary Geoconda Arguello-Kline gathered the group after the march and sang “back to work”.
“We have 65 percent of the people back at work, but we still have 21,000 people at home,” she said. “We want full-service cleaning, full-service restaurants. Invite everyone in Vegas to say, ‘We want full service again.’ ”
Arguello-Kline estimated that around 5,000 union members marched on Friday evening.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
