UNITE HERE Gaming Research, the research arm of the hospitality workers’ union, projected that a one-month strike in Las Vegas could cost the two largest employers on the Vegas Strip—MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corporation—over $300 million in operating profits.
“It is difficult to gauge the potential impact of a large-scale strike in Las Vegas since we haven’t had one since 1984, but we think a strike now would significantly impact MGM and Caesars’ operations,” said Ken Liu, a UNITE HERE analyst in a press release on the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 website.
“With lower revenues and reduced operating margins, we believe a month-long strike could cut Caesars’ EBITDAR by about $115 million and lower MGM’s EBITDA by just over $200 million,” he added.
UNITE HERE Gaming Research’s investor alerts are available here (for MGM) and here (for Caesars).
Labor contracts covering 50,000 hospitality service workers in Las Vegas expire at the end of May 2018.
[Related Content: Las Vegas Culinary Union Votes to OK Citywide Strike]
Approximately 24,000 MGM workers and 12,000 Caesars workers are part of this year’s contract negotiations. On May 22, 2018, 25,000 union members voted by a 99% margin to authorize the union negotiation committee to call a strike if necessary. The last major citywide strike by a UNITE HERE local took place in Atlantic City in 2004. That strike lasted 34 days, and the union won a historically good contract, according to the union.
In Las Vegas right now, major outstanding issues between the employers and UNITE HERE’s Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 include technology, hotel housekeeping workload study, union security in case of property ownership change, and wages and benefits.
UNITE HERE’s Culinary and Bartender Unions over 10,000 Las Vegas casino workers also called on visitors to not sexually harass workers and created a pledge to raise awareness on the issue.
Read more here: Vegas Casino Workers Stand Up Against Harassment.
