Instead of butting heads in court, the Culinary Union, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International put their noggins together, and came up with a set of worker-safety protocols to implemented on a company-wide basis. That still leaves a lot of casino workers uncovered but we’re not going to cavil at such major progress. All the principals professed to be happy with the accord. Caesars CEO Tom Reeg implied it was a transitional stage, saying, “This agreement is an important step in continuing to ensure our Team Members and their families are protected during these unpredictable times.” Added MGM’s Bill Hornbuckle, the most vocal CEO in supporting the Culinary’s goals, “We thank the Culinary Union for their partnership during these difficult times and look forward to when we can welcome back more of our colleagues. We’re all in this together, and I have no doubt that we will emerge stronger and more successful than ever on the other side.” 24,000 MGM and 12,000 Caesars employees are covered by the pact.
There are plenty of Las Vegas visitors like me and my family that will make Park MGM their permanent hotel when it opens as a no smoking property, and many others will gamble and hang out there… I am confident that MGM will see for itself that there is a market for clean air, that pandering to the empty threats of smokers is letting the few dictate to the many. Las Vegas needs to get bold, with so many people out of work and conventions on hiatus they need to figure out ways to motivate regular folks into visiting. Issue number one should be safety, the state of Nevada has a virus transmission rate that is way too high, but fortunately it is trending in the right direction for now…