Culinary Union members in Las Vegas are considering an informational picket after failing to reach a new contract agreements with casino hotels on the Strip. Employees at several properties are threatening to walk off their jobs, demonstrating their desire for new contracts.

The strike is scheduled for tomorrow and will see Culinary Union members working at the Rio Las Vegas, SAHARA Las Vegas and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas leave their workplaces. The Culinary Union also announced that it is planning to begin 36 hours of nonstop picketing of all unsettled casinos.

According to the Union, tomorrow’s demonstration would be an informational picket and not a strike.

Wherever there is an active picket line outside of an unsettled casino, the Culinary Union will be urging customers and community allies to not cross the picket line on Friday and Saturday.

Culinary Union statement

In the meantime, the Culinary Union pushed forward the strike deadline until Monday, February 5, for the 10 downtown Vegas properties without contracts. These include Binion’s, Circa, Downtown Grand, El Cortez, Four Queens, Fremont, Golden Gate, Golden Nugget, Main Street and The D Casino.

As negotiations progress, Culinary Union moves strike deadline to Feb. 5 for 10 DTLV properties, will begin 36-hours of continuous picketing of all unsettled casinos. Strike deadline for Rio, Sahara, & Virgin remains on 2/2.

Culinary Union statement

The Union Already Achieved a Number of Victories

For reference, a whopping 2,600 workers in the Las Vegas hospitality industry are currently working without a contract and are now seeking a five-year agreement. The negotiations continue as Culinary Union members are yet to sign definitive agreements.

In the meantime, the Culinary Union already achieved several victories after successfully negotiating with MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts. The union also reached an agreement with the Plaza casino in downtown Vegas, as well as with a number of Strip independents, namely Circus Circus, Four Seasons, Hilton Grand Vacations, Mirage/Hard Rock, Strat, Treasure Island, Tropicana, Trump Hotel, Waldorf Astoria and Westgate.

In the meantime, the potential strikes threaten to interfere with the Super Bowl preparations, providing the Culinary Union with extra leverage.

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The former Lucky Club in North Las Vegas opens Monday, February 6th as the rebranded Ojos Locos Sports Cantina y Casino at Hotel Jefe – the first Hispanic-oriented casino in the country, according to the operator.

The 90-room hotel is also getting a new name, rebranding as Hotel Jefe. However, the hotel is still undergoing renovations and only about 40% of the rooms are complete, all rooms should be open by the end of the year.

Fifth Street Gaming owns the property and casino license. The new venture is a partnership with Ojos Locos Sports Cantina. The restaurateur is based in Dallas, Texas, and offers sports bars and restaurants in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Ojos Locos Sports Cantina is situated in the center of the 10,000-square-foot casino. According to a press release, the sports bar and restaurant will seat nearly 300 people.

Laura Caudillo, vice president of growth at Ojos Locos Sports Cantina, said in a statement: “We are excited and honored to collaborate with Fifth Street Gaming on this flagship location, allowing us to bring the first-ever Ojos gaming experience to market. We look forward to welcoming the Latino community with our excellent service, delicious food, and fun-filled atmosphere.”

New Gaming and Entertainment Destination for Hispanic Community

Seth Schorr, CEO at Fifth Street Gaming said: “After two years of planning and collaboration, we are overjoyed to introduce this new gaming and entertainment destination catering [to]

y.

“We are grateful to Ojos Locos for joining us in this endeavor and to our valued customers whose enthusiasm inspired us to create a development just for them,” added Schorr.

The casino itself will offer 200 slot machines, and 35 video poker terminals in the bar. Throughout the property will be nearly 100 TV screens.

Fifth Street sees the Hispanic community as mainstream rather than a niche and to serve the audience the company launched JefeBet, a unique sports, betting, and entertainment company purpose-built for the Latin American audience.

Latinos Make up 44% of North Las Vegas Population

When the partnership was first announced in September 2022, North Las Vegas Mayor John Jay Lee said: “With 44 percent of our city’s population identifying as Latino, we’re thrilled to see an already established business providing entertainment created with such a large portion of our residents in mind. We anticipate the JefeBet Casino and Hotel to be a wonderful addition to our community.”

Schorr added: “This one-of-a-kind property will be the first time a company has opened a space for this massive, yet underserved population. The other unique feature of this property is that the sportsbook, sports bar, and restaurant will all be in one layout and won’t be separate entities.”

Source: North Las Vegas’ Lucky Club to open as rebranded Ojos Locos Sports Cantina y Casino on February 6, YogoNet, February 3, 2023

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