9 November 2023
MGM Resorts International and Culinary Workers Union Local 226 reached a tentative five-year contract agreement early Thursday morning covering more than 25,400 non-gaming workers at eight Strip properties.
The deal, announced by the Culinary in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, marks the second straight early-morning contract settlement following Wednesday’s agreement with Caesars Entertainment.
Details of the agreement were not disclosed and a date for workers to ratify the contract was not determined. The deal means MGM Resorts and the Culinary avoided a strike that was planned for Friday morning.
The contract covers employees at Aria, Bellagio, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, New York-New York and Park MGM.
The Culinary said the agreement was reached after nearly 20 straight hours of negotiations.
On Wednesday, MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle said he was optimistic an agreement would be imminently reached.
“We know from listening to our employees that they are looking for a pay increase to combat inflation,” Hornbuckle said during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call. “This deal, when announced, will do just that and will result in the largest pay increase in the history of our negotiations with the Culinary Union.”
The Culinary has been in contract negotiations with Caesars, MGM and Wynn Resorts, the three largest employers on the Strip with 18 properties that cover 38,000 non-gaming union workers, since April.
The agreements expired at the end of May and were extended until September, when the union voted on a strike authorization vote that was overwhelmingly approved.
The union has contract talks scheduled for Thursday with Wynn Resorts covering Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.
This story will be updated.