Union: Cosmopolitan workers remain employed through sale

/ Las Vegas Sun

Two housekeepers who declined to give their names, watch as the California School Employees Association, in town for a convention, join Culinary workers to picket the Cosmopolitan Wednesday, July 31, 2013.

The new ownership of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will undoubtedly institute changes to the resort.

But the resort’s workforce, apparently, will remain intact.

The Culinary Union Local 226 said today that Cosmopolitan employees, whom the resort calls CoStars, will retain their employment through the sale.

Gaming regulators gave their final blessing Thursday to the $1.73 billion sale to a division of Blackstone Group. A Cosmopolitan spokeswoman confirmed to VEGAS INC that the sale was complete as of noon today.

“We are pleased that the Cosmopolitan CoStars that we represent will be able to keep their jobs and their health insurance,” said the union’s secretary-treasurer, Geoconda Arguello-Kline, in a statement. “We are committed to working with Blackstone to ensure that these workers have the opportunity to provide for their families.”

The Cosmopolitan has a tense history with the Culinary Union, which represents around 55,00 casino workers in Las Vegas and Reno. It’s one of the few Strip resorts without a union contract.

Last year, the union organized multiple demonstrations amid dissatisfaction with the state of contract negotiations with Deutsche Bank, the resort’s former owner. At

one point in March, nearly 100 union protesters were arrested after sitting in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard.

A contract with the union was never established.

That may change now that the sale to Blackstone, first announced in May, is finalized. Blackstone owns the hospitality company Hilton Worldwide, which the Culinary statement said is one the largest employers of the UNITE HERE union. The Culinary is an affiliate of UNITE HERE.

“The Cosmopolitan management continues to negotiate in good faith with the Culinary Union,” said Cosmopolitan spokeswoman Amy Rossetti in an email. “We feel we have been having good conversations on behalf of our CoStars and we are confident that progress will continue in a positive direction."

Gaming

Share