Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024 | 9:01 a.m.
The Culinary Union announced today it has reached a tentative contract agreement with Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
While the union did not share many details, it said on X that the deal covers 3,000 workers and “meets (the) LVStrip standard.”
“At 3:30 in the morning on the 19th, we can say right now: Thank you very much,” Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge told union members in a video posted on X.
The resort did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Man, I feel relieved,” said Andre Longoria, a bartender at Fontainebleau, in a video posted by the union. “We’ve been here all day. We’ve been fighting for this since August … I feel blessed that we got this contract done today.”
The agreement comes five weeks into the union’s strike at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
Pappageorge has said Virgin’s last proposal amounted to a 30 cent hourly pay raise each year for five years.
The union’s contract at the property from 2019 to 2023 included a 30% pay raise, according to the resort.
Virgin Hotels has argued that it can’t pay what resorts on the Strip, including the Fontainebleau, are paying. There’s been little movement in negotiations since the strike started.
“This property is going to do very well,” Pappageorge said about Virgin Hotels, “but every company knows that if they come to Vegas, they have to bring money to invest in the workers.”
Earlier this year, the union celebrated having a presence at each Strip property after reaching an agreement with the Venetian’s new ownership group. In October, the Culinary also announced a tentative contract agreement with Park MGM’s Eataly Las Vegas.
