Culinary Union calls for a STRIKE against Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate at the Las Vegas Convention Center, sets a strike deadline for 6am Saturday

ONLINETWEET

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: 

Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 6am 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088

Culinary Union calls for a STRIKE against Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate at the Las Vegas Convention Center, sets a strike deadline for 6am Saturday

BROLL from strike sign making & the last picket at Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate here:

Las Vegas, NV -  Culinary and Bartenders Union bargaining unit members who work for Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate at the Las Vegas Convention Center will be going ON STRIKE indefinitely beginning tomorrow if an agreement is not met. Workers continue to negotiate with Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate and will do so until a great union contract is reached. Culinary Union has set a strike deadline for Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 6am.

Banquet servers, bartenders, concession cashiers, cooks, dishwashers, and other Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate workers who perform work at the Las Vegas Convention signed up for strike shifts, benefits, and made strike signs earlier this week. Conventions are booming, but Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate workers say their jobs aren’t enough for cost of living. The dispute is with Sodexo Live! / Centerplate not the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority or any other employer.

In solidarity, Culinary Union members from across the city will be joining Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate workers on the strike line next week. 

WHO:

*Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for Culinary Union

*Diana Valles, President of the Culinary Union

*Culinary Union members employed at Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate

*Bartenders Union members employed at Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate 

WHAT: Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate workers to go on strike Saturday at 6am 

WHEN: Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 6am (media availability)  

The strike line is maintained during the hours Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate workers are scheduled to work and as near as possible to where Sodexo Live!/Centerplate is doing work normally done by Culinary and Bartender bargaining unit members. As there will be multiple strike lines and stations set up throughout the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center campus, members of the press should RSVP to Bethany for access outside of the 3/11/23 at 6am media availability.

SOLIDARITY ACTION: Tuesday, March 14, 2023 there will be a mass action where Culinary Union members from across the city will be joining the strike line in solidarity with Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate workers who are on strike. Details forthcoming. 

WHERE: Las Vegas Convention Center (3150 Paradise Road)

WHY:

Banquet servers, bartenders, concession cashiers, cooks, dishwashers, and other Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate workers who perform work at the Las Vegas Convention voted last year by 100% to authorize a strike against Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate. The unanimous strike vote was held over two days at the Culinary Union HQ on December 7 and 8, 2022. Culinary and Bartenders Unions represent approximately 400 Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate employees who perform work at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the strike vote occurred as workers say their jobs aren’t enough to keep up with the cost of living.

The Culinary and Bartenders Unions has called for a strike and set the strike date for Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 6am because an agreement for a fair contract has not been reached. Negotiations are on-going with Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate. 

"We are in a tough fight against Sodexo/Centerplate at the Convention Center. We are tired of second-class treatment, while workers at the Westgate (just 30-feet away) are treated with respect," said Esmeralda Avila, a pantry worker at Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate. “My coworkers and I are going on strike against Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate because we are not second class workers!"

“I’m going on strike because workers are the ones that make Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate successful at the Convention Center, and we want to get a fair share of that success,” said Dylan Schoenhard, banquet server for Sodexo/Centerplate at Las Vegas Convention Center. “We have been busy working for Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate at the Convention Center, but we need higher pay because everything is so much more expensive now, especially rent and housing. We don't want to be treated like second-class workers.”

“After the COVID-19 pandemic, convention business is booming again, and Culinary Union members work tirelessly for Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate to provide the best service,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union. “Sodexo made over $1 billion in profit last year, but the workers who make that possible are getting left behind. Sodexo/Centerplate workers who work at the Las Vegas Convention Center are going on strike against Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate because they deserve first-class jobs. We have set a strike deadline of 6am on Saturday, March 11, 2023 if a fair contract isn’t reached by then.”

“I’ve worked in food service at the Las Vegas Convention Center for 20 years and I’m going on strike against my employer Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate because we deserve wages that are equitable and have parity with the Las Vegas Strip,” said Pearl Rodriguez, a coffee server at Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate at Las Vegas Convention Center. “I’m extremely inspired by the past. We are standing on the shoulders of everyone that came before us. I think back to the Frontier Strike and what those workers had to endure and the fight that they had over their very long strike - they set an example for us. We are not second-class and we are going on strike until a contract is reached.”

FACTS: Sodexo made over $1 billion (€1.059 billion) in profit in fiscal year 2022. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, Sodexo reported: “Corporate Services benefited from continued return to the workplace, Sports & Leisure was up by more than 50% as the volume and average spend of sporting and convention center events increased significantly. Yet, banquet servers, bartenders, concession cashiers, cooks, dishwashers, and other Sodexo LIVE! / Centerplate food service workers at the Convention Center say their jobs aren’t enough to keep up with the cost of living. Centerplate was purchased by Sodexo in 2019.

ABOUT CULINARY UNION:

Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, including at most of the casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas. UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America. 

The Culinary Union, through the Culinary Health Fund, is one of the largest healthcare consumers in the state. The Culinary Health Fund is sponsored by the Culinary Union and Las Vegas-area employers. It provides health insurance coverage for over 145,000 Nevadans, the Culinary Union’s members and their dependents.  

The Culinary Union is Nevada’s largest Latinx/Black/AAPI/immigrant organization with members who come from 178 countries and speak over 40 different languages. We are proud to have helped over 18,000 immigrants become American citizens and new voters since 2001 through our affiliate, The Citizenship Project.  

The Culinary Union has a diverse membership which is 55% women and 45% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latinx, 18% white, 15% Asian, 12% Black, and less than 1% Indigenous Peoples. 

Culinary Union members work as: Guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers. The Culinary Union has been fighting and winning for working families in Nevada for 88 years.

CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226 

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