Vegas 98 Arrests: Members of Culinary Workers Local 226 blocked traffic on the Las Vegas Strip Wednesday, leading to 98 arrests. The planned act of civil disobedience comes after two years of negotiations with Cosmopolitan Casino.
Workers at the Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas engaged in the first act of civil disobedience since labor negotiations began two years ago. Members of Culinary Workers Local 226 blocked traffic on the Las Vegas Strip Wednesday, leading to 98 arrests, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The workers continued to chant as they were being taken away, reports AP: “If we don’t get no contract, you don’t get no peace.”
The approximately 2,000 workers at Cosmopolitan have been in negotiations with management for the past two years to form their first union contract, according to a Local 226 press release. Worker contracts will expire June 1.
“I came here from a union job, so I know the difference,” C.J. Harry, 40, a bartender at the Henry at the Cosmopolitan, told the Las Vegas Sun in January when picketing began at the resort for the first time in ten years.
“I continue to work there in hopes we can get a contract. It’s a good place to work. We just want to have conditions that are equal to everywhere else on the Strip,” Harry said.
The employees are not asking for pay increases, but are focusing instead on better terms for seniority and health care coverage, according to the Sun.
Ron Gladstone, a 20-year union member who works as a cook at The D Las Vegas, is quoted in the March 18 Local 226 press release that announced the planned civil disobedience: “This is important not just for the workers at Cosmo, but for all workers in Las Vegas. We’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure Las Vegas remains a town where people have the opportunity to provide for their families through good union jobs.”
Cosmopolitan spokeswoman Amy Rossetti told ABC that management is continuing negotiations to “find a fair agreement.”
Rossetti also said Cosmopolitan is negotiating with the union, and the casino owner, Deutsche Bank, is not directly involved in negotiations.
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