Las Vegas hotels and casinos operated by MGM Resorts Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment will soon begin providing housekeepers and cocktail waitresses with a panic button they can use in case they feel threatened with sexual harassment on the job.
Panic buttons are becoming an increasingly common tool used by hotels to provide their employees an extra sense of peace of mind. Some cities, including Chicago, New York, Seattle and Washington D.C. have even passed citywide mandates calling for hotels to provide housekeepers with a panic button.
In Las Vegas, the panic buttons are part of contract negotiations by the Culinary Workers Union (Local 226.)
According to a survey conducted by the Culinary and Bartender unions, some 59 percent of cocktail servers and 27 percent of hotel housekeepers said they had been sexually harassed by guests, managers or other people while on the job. The survey, which queried 10,000 workers, also found that 72 percent of cocktail servers and 53 percent of hotel housekeepers said they had felt uncomfortable or unsafe due to a guest action.
The survey results led the unions to advocate for proposed stronger safety protections in their negotiations for a current contract.
On May 31, the union contracts of some 8,000 workers at 13 casino resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, including those operated by MGM and Caesars, expired.
Although union members overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike, the Culinary and Bartenders unions reached a tentative agreement with MGM Resorts Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment a few days later, avoiding a citywide walkout.
The new contract language calls for greater security measures for members, including workplace safety, sexual harassment, subcontracting, technology, and immigration. Additionally, the unions are seeking a fair share of the anticipated cash flows hotel-casinos are expected to receive in response to federal government tax changes.
Employees at American and Southwest airlines were promised a very highly publicized $1,000 each in response to those same tax law changes. Similarly, Delta promised $1.1 billion in profit sharing bonuses.
A number of Las Vegas Strip and Downtown hotels, including SLS, Treasure Island, Tropicana, Westgate, the Golden Nugget and the D (among others), remain without a contract. Culinary Union will continue to picket those properties on select days of the week.
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