It seems as though the troubles between the Culinary Union and the Cosmopolitan will continue for some time to come. It was recently announced that over 100 members of the union are now planning to have themselves arrested by Metro Police when they next protest on the Strip. This will be the second time that the union has done this in their protest with the Cosmopolitan over stalled contract talks.
The union is calling this an act of civil disobedience. As of right now, the protest is scheduled to occur on Nov 1 sometime between the hours of 5 and 7 p.m. What was not released by the union was just how the members who plan on being arrested will accomplish that goal.
If this happens, the new arrests will be the second time the union has taken this kind of action. The last time it happened was on March 20. At that incident, some 98 union protesters were arrested for sitting in the Strip and blocking traffic. At some point, Metro police officers stepped in and arrested the people, loading them into a police bus and taking them away from the scene where in excess of 2,000 Culinary union picketers continued to demonstrate. They were protesting for nearly 2,000 workers of the Cosmopolitan who have been showing up for work now for over two years but have not been able to get a new contract from the hotel.
According to union officials, the union is attempting to get a new contract with the Cosmopolitan that will include work weeks of 40 hours as well as conditions that will provide better job security. They are also seeking to get certain health care contributions. In addition, union members are also asking for new contracts that would include certain clauses that will promise that the new contract would remain in effect even if the hotel resort is sold to another entity. This particular clause is being asked for because the hotel resort which is owned by the Deutsche Bank is struggling financially and has been struggling for some years now. The Cosmopolitan opened in 2010.
As for the union, it is said to represent nearly 60,000 food servers, maids and bartenders. It has made no secret of its intention to get this new contract for these workers. In recent weeks, video has come out of some disturbing behavior by some of its members. Posted on the internet, the video that was taken shows a member of the union shouting at people who are entering the hotel, calling them names and causing some disturbances among other people who were on the property. When asked about this, union officials made no apologies, saying that they believe these types of tactics are fair game in a situation such as this. They say that their members are only taking advantage of their First Amendment rights and they see nothing wrong with their members being vocal on this issue. They vow to continue the protests until they get the new contract.