No contract? No peace! Culinary Union to picket Valley Hospital ahead of a strike vote the next day

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MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: 

Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 5:30pm

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088

No contract? No peace! Culinary Union to picket Valley Hospital ahead of a strike vote the next day

Las Vegas, NV -  Culinary Union to picket outside of Valley Hospital on Thursday, December 15, 2022 ahead of a strike authorization vote the next day on Friday, December 16, 2022.

WHO:

*Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for Culinary Union

*Diana Valles, President of the Culinary Union 

*Valley Hospital workers and Culinary Union members

*Community supporters

WHAT: Picket of Valley Hospital

WHEN: Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 5:30pm Pacific

WHERE: Valley Hospital (620 Shadow Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89106) 

WHY: 

Culinary Union represents approximately 90 housekeeping, cooks, cashiers, kitchen workers, and stewards at Valley Hospital. Valley Hospital is union busting and is trying to take away good Culinary Union health care from workers. 

Valley Hospital employees are essential workers who haven’t had a contractural raise in 6 years and they deserve one. Workers are fighting to keep their Culinary Union benefits, pension, health care, and job security.

“Valley Hospital is union busting and is trying to take away good Culinary Union health care from workers. Valley Hospital employees are essential workers who haven’t had a contractural raise in 6 years and they deserve one,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “Workers are fighting to keep their Culinary Union benefits, pension, health care, and job security.”

“I am picketing to show Las Vegas that Valley Hospital is treating us unfairly and that’s not right! We deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” Brenda Reyes, cafeteria worker at Valley Hospital for 5 years. “I have a 7-year-old son who has a speech delay and I work hard to provide for him, but it’s hard when we haven’t gotten a raise in years. Not having a contract means putting things on hold. I can’t buy a home or get a car because I don’t know what is going to happen and everything at work is insecure. Valley Hospital, this needs to be resolved and stop union busting - it’s disgusting!”

Valley Hospital workers will be participating in a strike authorization vote on Friday, December 16, 2022 at the Culinary Union. Results to be announced late evening Friday or early Saturday. 

Since the contract has expired, Valley Hospital has fired 5 Culinary Union members who were leaders in their workplaces, including most recently, Thomas Burrell, a committee leader and long-time Culinary Union member. Valley Hospital for the second time this year, suspended the Culinary Union organizer from the property and interfered with the Culinary Union’s right to access of workers and the unionized workplace. 

Since 2017, Valley Hospital has made $1.5 billion in revenue and sent over $100 million to its out-of-state corporate office in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. In the same time period, Valley Hospital has given its housekeeping and dietary workers $0 in contractual raises. Valley Hospital’s national company, Universal Health Services (UHS), paid its CEO a total of $97 million from 2017 through 2021. 

ABOUT CULINARY UNION:

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America. 

The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.  

The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.  

The Culinary Union has a diverse membership which is 55% women and 45% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latinx, 18% white, 15% Asian, 12% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples. 

Culinary Union members work as: Guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting and winning for working families in Nevada for 87 years.

CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226 

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