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Escalating labor dispute clouds potential sale of Deutsche Bank’s Cosmopolitan Casino1 March 2013LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Deutsche Bank is embroiled in an escalating labor dispute with 2,000 workers at its Cosmopolitan casino resort. Union workers are set to picket the luxury casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip on Friday, March 1st. This is the second demonstration at the casino in thirty days, and the escalating labor dispute brings added business risk with respect to the potential sale of the property. These protests are the first against a union casino on the Strip in a decade. “We deserve the same respect and opportunity to provide for our families as other union casino workers in Las Vegas. Deutsche Bank is making enormous profits from hotel stays and food and beverage, yet they don’t value our hard work in these departments” "We deserve the same respect and opportunity to provide for our families as other union casino workers in Las Vegas. Deutsche Bank is making enormous profits from hotel stays and food and beverage, yet they don’t value our hard work in these departments,” says union member George Sproule, a mixologist at The Cosmopolitan. In the departments where most of the bargaining unit is employed, The Cosmopolitan had department profit margins of 77% in hotel rooms, and 32% in food and beverage during the first nine months of 2012. During 18 months of bargaining, The Cosmopolitan has proposed extreme deviations from the industry standards on the Strip that have been established by UNITE HERE’s Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 over the years. The union proposed housekeeping workload standards found in agreements with competing Las Vegas casinos, including Bellagio, Aria, and Caesars Palace. However, The Cosmopolitan has insisted that its condominium-sized rooms should be cleaned in less time than comparable rooms up and down the Strip. The unions have also proposed industry standard language on job security, health insurance, and pension. Deutsche Bank has spent more than $4.5 billion on the casino, and opened the 2,995-room luxury resort in 2010. It placed the casino in its Non-Core Operations Unit last fall as it seeks to sell assets to free up capital. The Culinary and Bartenders unions represent workers at 90% of casinos on the Strip. The unions are known for persistence in mobilizing members in defense of industry standards in the city. Deutsche Bank was one of the largest recipients of U.S. government assistance during the financial crisis. It received $11.8 billion of funds used to bail out AIG, and was one of the heaviest users of Federal Reserve programs to stabilize financial institutions in 2008. Contacts |