According to the Culinary Workers Union, its membership includes about 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, and the bargaining unit covers most major casino employers. The union represents guest-room attendants, cooks, bartenders and other frontline staff across most Strip resorts. Union President Diana Valles told FOX5 that TPS holders may make up as much as 5 percent of that membership, underscoring how disruptive a loss of status could be on and off the casino floor.
Union-negotiated leave protects jobs but not pay
The Culinary Union says it secured contract language that lets TPS workers take up to five years of leave to protect their positions and seniority. During that period, however, members on leave cannot legally work, union officials told FOX5. Valles put the dilemma bluntly: "The ones that are losing their TPS status, it's like, how are we gonna provide for my family?" Workers may keep their place on the schedule, but without pay coming in while they scramble to find another form of legal status, it is a cold comfort.