At the end of September 2023, its members voted for tough industrial action: They threatened to paralyze the Strip with a large-scale strike. That should pay off.
After the union initially wrested substantial salary increases from the three leading strip multinationals MGM, Wynn and Caesars Palace, US Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Las Vegas to the Culinary Union - and praised: "You are setting a new standard for workers everywhere."
On February 5th, the union sealed a comprehensive deal with various casino operators: immediate wage increases of an average of ten percent and 32 percent plus over five years. Whereupon Joe Biden himself appeared in front of Culinary members in Las Vegas and said: "If you're doing well, then everyone's doing better."
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Ameeluz Cauton will take part. “Biden speaks for us,” says the casino employee. “I will definitely vote for him.” And she will ask members of her extended family, who only vote sporadically, to cast their vote for “Uncle Joe.”
She has good arguments: Thanks to the deal supported by Biden and Harris, she now earns $28 an hour instead of the previous $23: gross, that's around $200 more per week. According to the collective agreement, her wages will rise significantly again in the coming years.
And so Ameeluz Cauton now looks around again, for a little house.