STATEMENT by Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge regarding Neighborhood Stability

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Monday, August 22, 2022 

MEDIA CONTACT:

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

STATEMENT by Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge regarding Neighborhood Stability:

The North Las Vegas City Council tried to silence the voices of working people by refusing to put the Neighborhood Stability initiative ordinance on the ballot. We commend councilman Richard Cherchio, the lone dissenting vote, who stood up for stable and secure neighborhoods and the rights of North Las Vegas renters to enjoy secure homes for their families. 

The Culinary Union talked to thousands of voters in North Las Vegas who overwhelmingly supported the the Neighborhood Stability ballot measure and demanded that the price gouging by corporate landlords must end.

The North Las Vegas City Council’s last-minute refusal to place the Neighborhood Stability initiative on the ballot would have dragged us into extended legal proceedings. With an August 22, 2022 (today) deadline for printing election materials, the North Las Vegas City Council’s decision effectively prevented our ballot measure from making it on the November 8, 2022 ballot.

We won’t be deterred, nor will we waste time in court. We will continue running the largest political field program ever in Nevada to elect candidates who will center workers.

In the days since the North Las Vegas City Council voted to protect the profits of corporate landlords and deny voters the opportunity to vote on Neighborhood Stability, hundreds of Culinary Union canvassers have knocked on tens of thousands of voters’ doors and are on track to knock on the doors of more than half of the Black and Latinx voters this cycle. 

The political team, comprised of rank-and-file hospitality workers, is talking with thousands of working families every day – from Reno and Sparks, to Eastside and Westside, and in North Las Vegas – and their message is clear: Neighborhood Stability is needed beyond North Las Vegas. Nevada voters want our elected officials to stand with working people and the right to dignified affordable housing – not corporate landlords getting rich off of evictions.

The Culinary Union has a 87-year history of fighting and winning for working families in Nevada and doing the militant organizing every day in order to transform the landscape that hospitality workers face, and we have a plan to win. 

The Culinary Union will be signing up tens of thousands of voters to support the passage of Neighborhood Stability at the county level. We are also calling on all candidates running for office this November to pledge to support Neighborhood Stability, as hospitality workers will be considering candidate stances regarding Neighborhood Stability as they cast their votes during the Midterms. 

NEVADANS NEED NEIGHBORHOOD STABILITY: 

*Prohibits rent increases for the first year of tenancy. 

*Guarantees that rent increases are tied to CPI with a 5% yearly cap.

*Requires landlords to give 90-day notice on future rent increases.

*Includes commonsense exemptions for units built in the last 15 years and for mom/pop landlords who only own 1 unit or live in a multi-unit building. 

Join us by signing the petition: NeighborhoodStability.org  

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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