"Come March, when this first happened, I was under the impression we were going to be shut down for a couple of weeks, no big deal," he said. "Another week goes by, and another week goes by, and all of a sudden, I haven't gone back to work since March."
For nearly 24 years, Geyer, 49, had tended bar at the Main Street Station, a downtown Las Vegas casino, brewery and hotel that remains temporarily shuttered due to the pandemic. And while the crowds got bigger whenever CES came to town, Main Street Station attracted a loyal clientele, many of whom Geyer got to know well through the years.
Geyer said he's grateful to be receiving unemployment benefits, that his wife still has her job, and that they had some money in savings to support themselves and their two kids. The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 has also helped procure weekly food assistance and groceries.
But the loss of full and steady income is taking its toll, Geyer said. He's hopeful that his union's push for Clark County, Nevada, to adopt a "Right to Return" policy will be put in place, requiring employers to offer laid-off workers the right to return to their old jobs when businesses reopen.
"We're just wondering when we're going to return to work," he said.
The Boyd Gaming-owned Main Street Station is expected to reopen sometime in 2021, CEO Keith Smith said during the company's most-recent earnings call in October.
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