Culinary: Do more; Pent-up demand?

Although Nevada regulators seem to think that companies like Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts are going too far with their reopening protocols the Culinary Union begs to differ. Noting that 15 Culinary members or family members have died of Coronavirus, Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline advanced the local’s own prescriptions for resumption of business. (It should be noted that companies which flout the Nevada Gaming Commission‘s relatively toothless set of rules will not be fined. Way to go, NGC.) In addition to supporting temperature screenings of customers, the Culinary wants …

• Testing of workers for both the Covid-19 virus and its antibodies
• PPE be “made widely available” to workers and guests alike
• Enhanced sanitation training and more-frequent cleaning of all surfaces, which should be reduced in number
• Protocols “should be unique to each gaming facility … joint labor-management health and safety committees should be created”
• Unlike the NGC, the Culinary wants all employees tested before they return to work
• Employees manifesting a fever should receive company-sponsored testing and a paid leave of absence
• Switch over to non-touch time clocks
• No employee “should be compelled to work” in a facility where Coronavirus has been detected in the previous two weeks
• No retaliation for refusing to work in a hazardous environment or for calling in sick with flu-like symptoms
• “All cleaning personnel should be given time to perform their tasks fully and safely”

There’s much, more but you get the gist. Many of the points covered by the Culinary have already been codified by Sands and Wynn. Said Argüello-Kline, “This is life and death. This is not like asking for something extra for the workers. The worker can die or the customer can die with Covid-19.” Unite-Here prexy Donald Taylor called out regulators, saying, “How are we going to have a universal standard to enforce? They have that with gaming. There’s certain things you can’t do and retain your gaming license. Why don’t we have the same thing here on just public health to protect the workers and protect the industry that they say they oversee and they care about?” Good question.

* Tourists might be coming back to Las Vegas sooner than expected. A survey of consumers found that 26% were planning a domestic vacation and 23% an international one in the next three months. The news isn’t so good for ‘homestay’ providers like AirBnB. Twenty-seven percent of respondents will be avoiding those until a vaccine or cure is found. (Only 10% felt the same way about hotels.) Reports HotelsMag.com, “Potential travelers expect hoteliers and homestay owners to make sanitizing hand gel available and implement new cleaning standards before their next stay.” Generations X and Z are said to be the most exuberant, with Millennials and Boomers exuding caution. Consumers are buying less sanitizer, more soda and expecting a return to ‘normal’ “by at least summer.”

The average mood of the nation was rated a 7.2, with most thinking the worst is over (some medical professionals would disagree). However, 55% reported that they’ve either had to cut back on spending or were OK but “cautious” financially. (Local governments got slightly higher marks than the federal one for Covid-19 response.) People are buying slightly less pet food. No, we don’t know why. Americans continue to hoard baby food (+38%) and paper products (+31%), among other things, including baking supplies—which has really put a crimp in Mrs. McKee’s baking ambitions. Attendance at museums and visitor attractions has gone up, which would have some obvious positive ramifications for Las Vegas. But sightseers want to see less of each other and expect a higher standard of cleanliness. The older the respondent, the cleaner they want it. But 31% expect to book a hotel room in the next quarter, cause for optimism among hoteliers, though not euphoria.

And when/as hotels reopen, consumers have the same sanitary expectations as they do of museums, zoos, etc. Plan on investing heavily in sanitizing lotion and wipes for your guests. The extremes are represented by the 13% who won’t stay in a hotel until a cure is found—and the 7% who throw caution to the winds and would do things they way they’ve always been done. Can’t we make them shelter in place while the rest of us venture carefully outwards?