FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bethany Khan: bkhan@culinaryunion226.org ▪ (702) 387-7088
Culinary Union moves headquarters to a new campus on Spring Mountain, celebrates 90 years of fighting and winning for working families in Nevada
The new Culinary Union campus, located at 5241 Spring Mountain Road Las Vegas, Nevada 89146, opens on Thursday, June 5th, 2025
BROLL: Culinary Union HQ in DTLV and the new campus on Spring Mountain Road
Las Vegas, NV – The Culinary Union, the largest union and a powerful force for working families in Nevada, is moving its headquarters to a new campus located at 5241 Spring Mountain Road Las Vegas, Nevada 89146. After nearly eight decades on Commerce Street in Downtown Las Vegas, the Culinary Union is building on its 90-year legacy of fighting and winning for workers with a move that strengthens its foundation for the future. Culinary Union’s building on Commerce Street will close permanently on Wednesday, June 4th and re-open a new expanded Culinary Union campus on Thursday, June 5th, 2025.
“We are laying down a strong foundation for the next century of worker power in Nevada by expanding our headquarters at a new campus,” said Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Union. “We are continuing to build power for the organizing fights ahead and will keep fighting to deliver a better future for generations of working families in Nevada. This move is about more than a new building. It’s about honoring the legacy of those who came before us and protecting the future of our union for the members still to come. The new Culinary Union campus is a wise investment that makes us stronger, ready to take on big corporations, and win strikes. It will be a source of power and financial security for our union family - for now and the next 90 years. We’re going to keep fighting for workers in this city, from the casinos in Downtown Las Vegas to the non-union restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip. We celebrate the memories and power we’ve built, and we’re ready to create even more. Here’s to the next generation of organizing, fighting, and winning.”
The new Culinary Union campus on Spring Mountain Road is ADA accessible, offers more meeting spaces, hundreds of covered parking spaces for Culinary Union members, expanded parking availability for hundreds more, and the campus is strategically located between the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas. The new headquarters, which will also centralize Culinary Union affiliates such as the Citizenship Project and others, will serve as the Culinary Union base as organizing continues at non-union restaurants on the Las Vegas Strip, Station Casinos properties, and entertainment venue and arenas in and around the tourism corridor.
“For over six decades, our home on Commerce Street has been more than just a building, it has been the heartbeat of the Culinary Union,” said Diana Valles, President of the Culinary Union. “It’s where generations of workers have gathered to organize and fight for their rights. It’s where we fortified the line in historic strikes, where we were united during times of crisis, and where we celebrated victories that changed tens of thousands of lives forever. The Culinary Union HQ has always been a dynamic place of worker power in Las Vegas and one where guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry, and kitchen workers stood strong through strikes, contract fights, and negotiations. As we move to a new campus, we honor the past and remain committed to keep fighting and winning for 60,000 Culinary Union members and their families.”
“We’ve been through strikes, layoffs, and tough contract fights together. The building in Downtown Las Vegas is the place where we’ve stood united when we unionized the Venetian/Palazzo after 25 years, when we brought the fight to the Station Casinos and their union busting, and when we beat back corporations that tried to divide us,” said Francisco Rufino Parra, cook at Paris Casino and Culinary Union member for 25 years. “I’m excited about moving to the new campus and it’s the perfect way to celebrate our 90th anniversary. As our union continues to organize and grow, it makes sense that we have a larger campus to fit more and more union members. I’m so proud to see my union making a wise investment in our future. Go 226!”
“The building on Commerce Street is filled with so many memories of fights, victories, and of workers standing together on the picket line and rallies,” said Gloria Valdez, hostess at the D and Culinary Union member for 17 years. “I’m excited that we’re moving to a new campus. We’re going to have more space to organize, more rooms to have worker meetings, and we are going to keep fighting. We’re ready!”
“When I first walked into the Culinary Union building off of Main Street, I felt the power of our collective history around me. The walls are covered in pictures of workers standing together, picket lines in front of casinos from the Las Vegas Strip and in Downtown Las Vegas, and many organizing victories that changed lives,” said Heather Lind, bus runner at the Aria and Culinary Union member for 4 years. “We’re taking that history with us to Spring Mountain Road. We’re going to keep fighting, organizing, and winning. The new campus is bigger and ready for us to write the next chapter of the story of worker power.”
“It’s bittersweet to leave the building that’s been our home for so long, but I’m excited for the new Culinary Union HQ,” said Kimbely Walker, house person at the Four Queens and Culinary Union member for 27 years. “The new campus is between the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown, it’s ADA accessible, and is convenient for members. I’m proud to see us investing in a future where we can keep fighting for workers who want to join our union. The new campus has plenty of meeting spaces as we organize more non-union restaurant and casino workers and I’m looking forward to making new memories!”
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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 Latino/a, 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 60% immigrants. The demographics of Culinary Union members are approximately: 54% Latino/a, 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 90 years.
CulinaryUnion226.org / @Culinary226
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