MEDIA ADVISORY FOR:
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 1pm Pacific
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union members to attend the “Labor Innovation & Technology Summit” at CES 2024
Las Vegas, NV - The Culinary Union will attend and participate in “Labor Innovation & Technology Summit” at the Consumer Electronics Show 2024. Day 1 of the summit is open to media in-person or via livestream.
Culinary Union executive board member, Elena Newman, who is a guest room attendant employed at a Las Vegas Strip casino resort will be speaking on the 5:15pm panel, “When workers fight, we win!” This discussion will highlight member stories about technology challenges in the workplace, the impact of those challenges, and how members organized to mitigate harm to workers, their jobs and their economic security.
Ted Pappageorge and several Culinary Union members will be available for English and Spanish interviews on-site.
WHO:
*Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer for Culinary Union
*Diana Valles, President of the Culinary Union
*100+ Culinary Union members
WHAT: Summit Day 1 - “Union leaders UNITE during CES to tackle technology’s impact on the future of work”
WHEN: Tuesday, January 9, 2024 from 1-6pm pacific
1–2pm: Opening session and discussion: Worker Rights in the Age of Tech
2–2:45pm: AI Goes to Hollywood 2024
2:45–3:30pm: Workers Winning in the Age of Tech
3:45–4:30pm: Technology in the Face of Worker and Civil Rights
4:30–4:15pm: AI and Democracy
5:15–5:45pm: When Workers Fight, We Win! {Features Culinary Union member Elena Newman, guest room attendant and executive board member
WHERE: Horseshoe Las Vegas Casino (3645 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89109)
WHY:
The Culinary Union negotiated a strong contract in 2018 to win innovative technology language that protects workers when the company brings in new technology. In 2023, those rights were protected and expanded. The Culinary Union's historic contract language sets clear goals regarding technology and automation for worker retention, job training/re-training, advance notice of implementation, and a service recognition package.
Protections include:
*Advanced notification (of up to 6-months) of new technology implementation.
*Negotiations regarding the implementation of new and expanding technology, including artificial intelligence.
*Mandatory FREE re-training to use new technology for current jobs.
*Access and mandatory FREE job training if there are new jobs that are created due to automation and technology.
*36-months extended recall rights with priority preference for other job openings in or out of the bargaining unit that workers are qualified for. Required employer-provided FREE training if workers can be qualified in a reasonable period of time.
*A service recognition bonus package based on years of service, which includes 6-months of health and pension benefits, if a unionized worker is ever laid off due to technology.
In the last 5 years, Culinary Union’s strong union technology language has been utilized to bargain over software, use of devices, and automation.
The Culinary Union has led the fight for respect on-the-job and we will not allow workers to be discarded. Gaming companies have a responsibility to embrace negotiated protections in good faith and with shared purpose. We will continue to enforce this technology language. Everyone deserves the right to dignity at work, the opportunity to provide for their family, and to have job security - we will continue to lead the fight for those rights.
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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 89 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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