Contract wins approval of MGM Resorts International employees

LAS VEGAS -- MGM Resorts International employees overwhelmingly approved a new five-year contract with the Culinary and Bartender unions in a vote Wednesday.

In a joint statement between the company and the two unions, more than 97 percent of employees who participated in the vote supported the new contract, which covers some 21,000 workers at 10 Strip properties owned by MGM Resorts.

The contract is the first deal that Culinary Workers Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 have reached with Las Vegas hotel-casino operators since contracts covering some 40,000 workers expired on June 1.

“MGM has taken a leadership position in the industry, forging a strong partnership for the future of both the company and the unions,” Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline said in a statement. “Ultimately, the members had to make the decision. Today, they voted to secure the opportunity to provide for their families, something every worker deserves.”

More than 4,000 employees participated in the vote.

Financial details of the new contract were not released.

The new economic package, agreed to by both sides, allows workers to keep their current health insurance and other benefits. Specific changes in food and beverage terms aim to provide necessary flexibility needed to reopen closed venues and bring workers back to their jobs. New measures in housekeeping create departmental language designed to increase job safety.

“Our aim has always been to negotiate an agreement that works for everyone, one that will allow everyone to provide and to succeed,” MGM Resorts Chief Operating Officer Corey Sanders said in s statement. “We believe that’s what the unions and the company have achieved here: a smart contract, one that charts our company’s future growth with the unions.”

The contract covers non-gaming employees at Aria, Bellagio, Circus Circus Las Vegas, Slots A Fun, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York Hotel.