In the latest in a long series of wild events in 2023, Sin City became the playing field for justice last week when thousands of food service workers took to the streets to fight for fair working conditions and a livable wage. Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents roughly 60,000 Nevada cooks, servers, and bartenders (both front-of-house and back-of-house workers, tipped and non-tipped), picketed along the Las Vegas Strip on October 12. It was the largest union demonstration on Las Vegas Boulevard in 20 years.
The site of the demonstration was as much about visibility as symbolism. Protestors picketed in front of eight businesses owned by MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Wynn Encore Resorts, with whom the Union is actively under contract negotiations. Around 53,000 of the union's members are located in Las Vegas, and on September 15, contracts expired for about 40,000 of them.