Members of Unite Here Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with Encore Boston Harbor, ending a more than two-month walkout over pay, job security, and healthcare benefits.
Tom Mari, president of Teamsters Local 25, said the agreement recognizes the value of these workers and showed what happens when working people stand together and refuse to back down. “This is what union solidarity looks like,” Mari said in a statement.
About 1,300 housekeepers, cooks, servers, bartenders, slot attendants, and warehouse and receiving workers at Encore Boston Harbor went on strike on September 4, after their contract expired on August 31.
Carlos Aramayo, president of United Here Local 26, said now member can “go back in as partners with Encore Boston Harbor, with respect on both sides.”
Members voted to ratify the new contract late Thursday. Neither Aramayo nor Mari announced the vote numbers in favor of the contract or details of the agreement reached with the resort, which is owned by Wynn Resorts.
“We expect the asset to immediately benefit from resilient, close-to-home, drive-to-gaming trends moving forward,” David Bain, an analyst with Texas Capital Securities, wrote on the agreement in a Wynn Resorts note.
Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas believed settling the strike removed an obstacle, which had impacted the resort and Wynn Resorts.
“On the bright side, Boston’s labor dispute has been resolved, which had been a headwind for the property during the quarter,” Jonas wrote in a research note.
Encore Boston Harbor generated $50.1 million of adjusted property EBITDAR, with employees out through September. Wynn CEO Craig Billings said the strike by union workers “proved to be a modest headwind.
“I’m grateful to our team for keeping the property running to our exacting standards throughout the strike,” Billings told analysts during a third quarter earnings conference call on Thursday.
