Nevada: A union state
If Labor Day has lost some of its edge in much of America, Nevada stands as a notable exception. In 2025, union members accounted for an estimated 13% of wage and salary workers in Nevada, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — above the national rate of 10%. Nevada has consistently exceeded the national average, driven largely by the hospitality sector that powers its economy.[15]
The engine of Nevada’s labor movement is Culinary Workers Union Local 226. Chartered on Nov. 1, 1935, the Culinary Union has spent nine decades becoming both an essential economic institution and a potent political force in the state. It has won a middle-class standard of living for more than 800,000 hospitality workers over that span through what it describes as militant rank-and-file organizing and mass action. Membership has grown from 18,000 in 1987 to 60,000 today.[16]
Together with Bartenders Union Local 165, the Culinary Union represents more than 60,000 workers at resorts across Las Vegas and Reno. Its membership reflects the city it serves: approximately 55% women, 54% Latino, 19% white, 15% Asian, and 10% Black — guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks and kitchen workers from 178 countries speaking more than 40 languages.[16] The union also operates one of Nevada’s largest health care programs. Its Culinary Health Fund provides health insurance coverage to over 145,000 Nevadans — union members and their dependents.[16]
A landmark moment came in 2024 when the Las Vegas Strip achieved full unionization. On Aug. 20, 2024, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions reached a tentative agreement on a first-time, four-year contract with The Venetian Resort Las Vegas — covering more than 4,000 team members and making The Venetian the final Strip casino then to sign a collective bargaining agreement. Workers voted to ratify the contract 99% to 1%.[17] The Venetian had resisted unionization for 25 years.
Labor Day in Las Vegas
In Las Vegas, Labor Day is not simply a long weekend. It is an occasion for organized labor to reassert its presence and advance its agenda — a use of the holiday that would be recognizable to the men and women who marched up Broadway in 1882.
On Sept. 1, 2025 — Labor Day — the Culinary Union hosted a workers’ rally outside The Sphere, the immersive entertainment venue on the eastern edge of the Strip, where 700 workers were in negotiations for their first union contract. Hundreds of Culinary Union members were joined by members of the Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada AFL-CIO, Southern Nevada Building Trades, Teamsters 631 and other unions.[18]
“This year, the Culinary Union is celebrating its 90th anniversary and a proud legacy of fighting and winning for working families in Nevada,” said Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union. “For nearly a century, our union has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with workers, transforming Nevada’s largest industry into one where hospitality workers have strong contracts, fair wages, and respect on the job. Generations of workers sacrificed and organized to win the union difference. Our history proves that when workers are united, we win.”[18]
The rally reflected not just local concerns but a wider national labor moment, as unions across the country pushed back against an administration they viewed as hostile to workers’ rights. The political muscle behind such gatherings is substantial: as of 2024, unions were the leading donor category to Nevada legislators during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles, making Labor Day events a stop that elected officials from county commissioners to U.S. senators rarely skip.[19]