It has been quite a while since we put out a newsletter, among the reason being that every time I start to put one out, things change so rapidly. Since it is a little past due, I am going to try and give you the best update I can which is now September 2009.
As everyone knows, the economy in our city, the rest of the country, and probably the rest of the world has been in dire straits for the past year. They say “recession,” but some people feel it is a “depression,” although things seem to be looking more positive right now. Employers of hotels where our members are working are badly suffering. Some hotels on the strip like Mandalay Bay and the Bellagio with rooms that used to go for $300 - $400 per night, are frequently going for $89 - $99 per night. There are other hotels normally on the lower end like the Riviera and Sahara that sell rooms for $39 per night and downtown properties can’t even give their rooms away, so that’s definitely problematic.
As most of you know, your employers came to us asking for some type of relief which included economically giving up your raises and also your guaranteed workweek. Our negotiating committees met with the employers and voted to protect our guaranteed workweek, Health & Welfare benefits, and Pension Plan. This resulted in taking the $0.69 that was due for a raise for strip properties that was due on June 1, 2009 and putting $0.25 of that into the Health& Welfare Fund and $0.10 into the Pension Plan. It was also voted upon to defer the additional $0.34 raise in exchange for extending our contracts by one year until 2013 and there will only be an “economic” re-opener for negotiations. We also secured Leaves of Absence up to one year with “no questions asked,” five personal days off during the year (without pay), and the employers agreed to make a reasonable effort to settle all outstanding arbitrations. In addition, the length of recall rights for layoffs was extended to two years.
Other locals of Unite Here had the difficult task of dealing with contracts in this tough economic environment. I want to congratulate President Bob McDevitt of Local 54 for negotiating a two-year contract with Harrah’s Hotels in Atlantic City. We are hopeful that Local 54 will wrap up the rest of the contract negotiations in the near future. In many hotel cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, Honolulu, Toronto, etc., our locals are having an extremely tough time negotiating fair contracts. It is important to all members of Unite Here that they win the battle for good contracts and I have the highest confidence that they will ultimately be successful.
With President Obama, whom you elected to office, we are encouraged that things will be getting better in the near future. His fight to pass a National Health Care Plan and get it done right, would not only help all Americans, but help enormously when labor unions negotiate contracts. Most of you already know that one of the biggest issues during contract fights has to do with health insurance.
Although many of our members are not in total layoff status, a large number are working fewer hours, with less tips and business is down in most of the high end restaurants. Customers that have been coming to Las Vegas are spending less in all areas with gaming revenues seeing a steady decline. The environment is certainly different from what we are used to with buffet and coffee shop revenues seeing an increase and guests checking into our hotels stocked with coolers full of beverages in order to save money.

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