Union Culinaria and Sodexo will strike a contract late at night

Parties to the agreement by the Culinary Union and Sodexo Live!, the contracted food provider to the Las Vegas Convention Center, canceled Friday night, six hours before workers walked off their jobs and formed protest lines.

Representatives from Culinary Local 226 and Ministers Local 165 announced Friday night that picket lines would be set up at various locations around the Convention Center, leaving their jobs at 6 a.m. Saturday.

But at around 11:55 pm on Friday, union officials announced that an agreement had been reached on a four-year contract.

Union officials did not say when the ratification vote would be scheduled.

“The Culinary Union has fought hard for the past 88 years and we are proud to extend this new agreement to the best contract with the highest wages Sodexo Live-Centerplate workers have ever had, while continuing to protect health care and pensions. 400 hospitality workers who work so hard every day to keep the Las Vegas Convention Center running, said Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, in a press release.

“This new contract mirrors Culinary’s standard technology contract in the city and the city of (Las Vegas) by setting clear goals around employee retention, job training, advance implementation technology, automation and the Secerna package,” Pappageorge said.

Paul Pettas, a spokesman for Sodexo, said in a statement Saturday that he would guarantee increased paychecks, expanded health coverage benefits and greater access to pensions.

“This convention will create greater economic activity for those who work with us at the Las Vegas Convention Center,” Pettas wrote. “We are proud to be the employer of choice in Southern Nevada, and we look forward to continuing to provide best-in-class hospitality with the world’s largest meetings, conventions and events.”

Strike before the day to avoid the fair

It’s just days before the Las Vegas Convention Center hosts what’s expected to be the biggest trade show since COVID-19: the five-day ConExpo-Con/Agg construction equipment show that’s held once every three years, starting on Tuesday. . It is estimated that some 130,000 people attended.

Unionized workers worked without a contract after September 1 and demanded higher wages and benefits. After paying cooks, waiters, waitresses, financial aid and other Sodexo workers, they averaged $16 to 19 an hour, which union officials said was not a high enough living wage.

“I feel great about having a new union contract,” Jeremy Schoenhard, a Sodexo catering worker, said in a union statement. “My teammates stood together and stood strong, and when they stick together, something really beautiful can happen. We no longer have second-class jobs. We have world-class wages, benefits and job security, so I and all my colleagues couldn’t be happier.

Esmeralda Ávila, a Sodexo warehouse worker, said she was happy about the new deal.

“We are working very hard to take care of conventions and guests and with this new agreement, one job is enough and we will have something to show for all our work,” he said.

Over the past four months, the union’s pressure on Sodexo management to contract has grown.

In late November, representatives of the umbrella organization here – Seamstresses, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNIT) and Hotel and Restaurant Employees – from Orlando; Detroit; New Orleans; Sacramento, Calif.; and Las Vegas faced controversy over its decision to vote while the deal was being negotiated.

The union and Sodexo management met at the end of November, but did not reach an agreement.

The Las Vegas group unanimously decided to authorize a strike on December 7 and 8, as a series of major trade shows such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) are coming to the city in January.

Nothing beats the CES and the Concrete world show, but when the magic show was held in the city in mid-February, the union held a series of informative meetings in the Convention Center.

Members of the Culinary Union also demonstrated when Southern Airlines flight attendants placed their picket line outside the West Hall Convention Center on February 21.