‘Landing three planes at once’: How union, casino operators avoided strike

Saturday, November 11, 2023 12:25 PM
  • McKenna Ross, Las Vegas Review-Journal

With only days left until thousands of Culinary Local 226 members on the Las Vegas Strip threatened to go on strike, negotiations took a bit of skill and several late nights to wrap up.

“It’s a little bit like landing three planes at once,” secretary-treasurer Ted Pappageorge said before Caesars Entertainment negotiations on Tuesday. “We’re prepared here to stay tonight as long as it takes.”

Those preparations included late-night babysitters and throw blankets in the negotiation rooms.

Social media videos posted by the union show MGM Resorts International workers cheering at the close of bargaining at 5:45 a.m. Thursday. Caesars Entertainment workers were up until a similar time early Wednesday.