LAS VEGAS — Thousands of hospitality workers on the Las Vegas Strip have signed a tentative agreement with the Venetian and Palazzo resorts, a first for employees of the sprawling, Italian-inspired complex.
The Culinary Workers Union announced Tuesday on the social platform X that just before 6:30 a.m. it reached a preliminary agreement with the property for more than 4,000 hotel and casino workers. The deal must be approved by union members.
In a short video shared by the union, a housekeeper at the Venetian said the current contract is proof that “things change when we voice our concerns and have a group of people who support us.”
“First contract for Venetian,” she said, laughing. “It’s a very historic event. It’s something we can be proud of.”
Terms of the proposed contract were not immediately released. Messages were left with a union spokesman and with the Venetian and Palazzo.
However, recently contracts have been awarded a 32% pay raise over five years for 40,000 workers on the Las Vegas Strip, including 18 properties owned or operated by casino giants such as MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment And Wynn Resorts.
The wage increase under those contracts will amount to an average hourly wage of $35 at the end of the contracts, according to the union. Workers at those properties were making about $26 an hour with benefits before they won their last contracts in November.
The deals, which were described by the Culinary Union as their “best contracts ever,” ended long-term labor disputes that the threat of a historic strike to the Strip. Other major victories included reductions in household workloads and improved job security amid technological advances.
The Venetian and the adjacent Palazzo are a Sin City landmark, with gondolas cruising the canals, through a covered plaza with shops, restaurants and entertainment, and outside on the sidewalks of Las Vegas Boulevard.
In another short video released by the union, Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer and chief negotiator, is seen addressing a group of workers in a casino ballroom shortly after they reached their tentative deal.
“We have an agreement and we now have a union contract after 25 years here at the Venetian,” he said to applause. The Venetian opened in 1999.