Las Vegas — On Monday, President Joe Biden told the local culinary union, “When you do well, everybody does better,” after hospitality workers reached a tentative agreement with four Las Vegas hotel-casinos and called off a strike deadline for another.
“I came to say thank you — not just for the support you’ve given me the last time out and this time, but thank you for having the faith in the union,” Biden told Local 226 Culinary hospitality workers at Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas. He is running for reelection in November. “Thank you for persisting—this matters. It's important.”
The president began campaigning in Las Vegas on Sunday ahead of Tuesday's Democratic primary. After meeting union members on Monday, he visited a boba tea store before flying back to Washington.
The Culinary Workers Union has tentatively reached a deal with six downtown hotel-casinos and postponed a walkout for another. The largest Nevada union is the Culinary Union with 60,000 members. It negotiates five-year contracts for members.
United Auto Workers backed Biden recently. He boasts of his longtime support for organized labor. “I make no apologies for being the most pro-union president in America,” he declared Sunday night at a Las Vegas reelection rally in a historically Black area.
As Super Bowl week begins, the culinary union's tentative agreements prevented a Monday morning walkout at many near-Strip and downtown establishments. San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday.
After discussions with some of the remaining casinos stalled, the union declared last week it would strike if downtown casino workers at locations without preliminary contracts didn't agree by early Monday.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority expects 330,000 guests to attend the NFL's 58th Super Bowl this week.
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