Virgin Las Vegas Strike Arbitration Rejected, Comedian Cancels Show

Amid the New Year festivities (and exploding cybertrucks) in Sin City, the Culinary Union Local 226 and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas have most definitely not made peace.

The 700-strong workers’ strike continues now into its third month and a new calendar year. The dispute over contract offers from Virgin Las Vegas’ ownership has, if anything, intensified over the past few weeks. 

The union upgraded its picket line presence after rejecting Virgin Hotels’ late December request for third party arbitration in the dispute. The union said it had never settled a dispute via arbitration in more than 40 years of operating in Las Vegas. 

It also called on performers and acts booked to play Virgin Las Vegas to cancel their shows in solidarity, and one comedian responded. YouTube star and baseball talk show host Steven Hofstetter canceled a scheduled January appearance at the Las Vegas venue, calling on his fans to also boycott the property. 

The Dispute

The influential Culinary Union Local 226 and Virgin Las Vegas have been in a dispute for almost a year now. Tensions reached a boiling point in November, when some 700 workers walked out. 

The union says its workers want and deserve a contract similar to those currently offered by competing Las Vegas Strip casinos. Virgin Las Vegas says it cannot afford to pay that, and has offered much smaller wage increases. 

The union won new contracts for more than 10,000 workers across the luxury Las Vegas Strip resorts in mid-2023, after narrowly avoiding a mass strike action. 

On Saturday, December 28, Virgin Hotels requested arbitration from a third party to settle the months-long strike. 

“Virgin Hotels Las Vegas requested that the Culinary Union leadership join us in arbitration, and we sincerely hope they will accept and participate in good faith,” the casino hotel said in a statement. 

“The Culinary Union leadership’s acceptance would allow Team Members to begin returning to work prior to the holidays. We are eager to put this behind us by reaching an equitable agreement that is financially sustainable for the property while benefiting all of our team members.”

However, this was a proposition that the union soundly rejected. Officials alleged that Virgin had not specified who a third party arbiter would be, and they were wary of bias.

“We have never settled a strike or contract dispute by arbitration in the history of Las Vegas,” said Culinary Union 226 Secretary Treasurer Ted Pappageorge, speaking to local media. 

Back and Forth

That Saturday, union leaders hosted an outdoor Noche Buena, a Cuban-style Christmas party, to treat the roughly 50% of the striking hospitality staff who are of Cuban heritage. The strike has been ongoing since before Thanksgiving, when the union also hosted a meal for picketing workers. 

Union officials accused Virgin Las Vegas of sending out security to remove their picket line infrastructure the morning after the party. But the union said items were swiftly replaced. 

During the party on Saturday, Virgin Las Vegas broadcast a text message on a video screen overlooking the picketing workers, saying “Respond to our arbitration request.” It has also made efforts to block the view of picketing workers from guest rooms, first installing hoardings, and now a temporary topiary hedge.

Amid all that, in support of striking workers, comedian and YouTuber Steven Hofstetter canceled his pending January show at the venue. 

“I was hoping the strike would be settled by now, but it isn’t,” Hofstetter wrote on social media. “And so, in solidarity with the striking culinary workers, I am canceling my January show at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas.”

However, other acts have been less receptive to the union’s calls to boycott venues. That included chart-topping singer Shaboozey, who performed at Virgin Las Vegas over the festive period.