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UNI's affiliated UNITE HERE informed about the ratification of a new 5-year contract at MGM Resorts properties in Las Vegas. UNI Gaming congratulates the Culinary and Bartenders Unions with this important win!

More information from UNITE HERE website

After a day of voting and months of negotiations, members of the Culinary and Bartenders Unions ratified a contract with MGM Resorts International. More than 97 percent of participating members voted in favor of the contract, which covers thousands of Union workers across MGM Strip properties.

MGM Resorts International becomes the first Las Vegas Strip company to reach agreement with the Culinary and Bartenders Unions. This new contract covers more than 21,000 of the Company’s employees at Aria, Bellagio, Circus Circus Las Vegas/Slots A Fun, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York Hotel. Employee positions covered include food and beverage workers, guest room attendants, bell department, porters and many others.

Carlos Almazan, a kitchen steward at Mandalay Bay said, “This contract protects our benefits, and will help bring back jobs. It’s a good contract. I’m especially thankful to know my healthcare will be protected.”

The Union contract committee, comprised of workers from all MGM properties, has worked diligently for months, negotiating regularly with MGM management representatives to strike a mutually beneficial agreement. The previous contract expired on June 1, 2013. Terms of the new agreement are retroactive to that date.

Corey Sanders, Chief Operating Officer for MGM Resorts, said, “Both sides have crafted an agreement that, despite difficult economic times, addresses the needs of Union workers and their families as well as those of the Company. Our aim has always been to negotiate an agreement that works for everyone; one that will allow everyone to provide and to succeed. We believe that’s what the Unions and the Company have achieved here: a smart contract, one that charts our Company’s future growth with the Unions.”

The new economic package, agreed to by both sides after long negotiations, allows workers to keep their current high-quality health insurance and other important benefits. Specific changes in food and beverage terms aim to provide necessary flexibility needed to reopen closed venues and bring workers back to their jobs. Finally, new measures in housekeeping create departmental language designed to increase job safety.

“MGM has taken a leadership position in the industry, forging a strong partnership for the future of both the Company and the Unions. Ultimately, the members had to make the decision. Today, they voted to secure the opportunity to provide for their families, something every worker deserves,” said Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline.

Mr. Sanders said, “This agreement allows MGM and the Unions to move forward together with new projects such as the new world-class arena and other amenities under development in the Company’s world-class resorts. These are the projects that will grow our local economy and lead us all to success. We commend the Union and its leaders for their continued partnership and the open, forward thinking that allowed these long discussions to come to this successful conclusion.”