The pending acquisitions of Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts have attracted much attention from corporate investors, gaming regulators, industry analysts, and political leaders. For approximately 35,000 workers on the Las Vegas Strip, however, the more immediate concern is how the transactions could affect their jobs, their workplaces, and their union contracts.
The current Culinary Workers Union contracts covering both companies’ Las Vegas Strip properties were negotiated in late 2024 under the threat of a strike just days before the inaugural Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Widely regarded as the most favorable the union has secured, the contracts provide substantial wage increases, enhanced benefits, and expanded protection from displacement by technology. Although the covered workers have much at stake in the pending ownership changes, existing contractual provisions and established labor law make it highly unlikely that those gains will be threatened or disrupted.
Soon after the acquisitions were announced, the Culinary Union issued a statement assuring workers that any new owners would be required to recognize the union and honor the existing collective bargaining agreements. At first glance, that assurance may seem unduly optimistic. The acquiring companies – Fertitta Entertainment and People, Inc. – did not negotiate or sign those contracts. The question that naturally arises, then, is whether they are nevertheless legally bound to comply with them.
The answer lies in a combination of contractual protections, transaction requirements, and long-standing doctrines of federal labor law. Union contracts don’t always survive the sale of an ongoing business, but in these two cases, employees will see little change at all, at least for a couple of years.