Hotel workers block Las Vegas Strip in fight for union contract

28-03-2013

Over 2000 hotel workers and union leaders of Local 226, Las Vegas branch of the IUF-affiliate UNITE HERE, demonstrated on the famous Strip in front of the Cosmopolitan Hotel March 20 to highlight their demand for a collective agreement.

The Cosmopolitan is one of the few resorts on the Strip where employees work without a contract; after two years of negotiations, management has been unwilling to reach agreement on the union's demands for a wage increase, health care and job security.

The police had to close the Strip in front of the hotel and casino and some
100 protesters were arrested for blocking traffic in this mass show of civil disobedience.

The Cosmopolitan is 100% owned by the German Deutsche Bank, which also has 25% ownership of Station Casinos (read about the Station Casinos campaign here [1]), where the union continues its long fight for trade union rights.

More information and pictures are available on the Local 226 website [2].

The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is an international federation of trade unions representing workers employed in agriculture and plantations; the preparation and manufacture of food and beverages; hotels, restaurants and catering services; all stages of tobacco processing. The IUF is composed of 394 affiliated organizations in 126 countries representing a combined membership of around 2,6 million.

How to contact the IUF:
Email: [email protected]
Post: Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8, CH-1213, Petit-Lancy (Switzerland)
Phone: + 41 22 793 22 33
Fax: + 41 22 793 22 38

Links:
[1] http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/2208
[2] http://www.culinaryunion226.org