In Nevada, members of the Local 226 branch of the Culinary Workers Union reportedly picketed Circus Circus Reno last Thursday as part of an ongoing pay dispute with American casino operator Eldorado Resorts Incorporated.

November stalemate:

According to a Tuesday report, the area branch of this private sector trade union represents some 260 Circus Circus Reno employees who fill a variety of roles such as cooks, housekeepers, food servers and bartenders. However, the previous contract between these workers and Eldorado Resorts expired at the end of November with the subsequent months of negotiations having failed to bear any positive fruit.

Paradoxical percentages:

The union is angry that the regional casino operator, which acquired Circus Circus Reno from MGM Resorts International in 2015, has offered its members a pay rise of only 1.75% when the company as a whole recently posted an improved comparable annual profit of 9.8%. Bethany Khan, Communications and Digital Strategy Director for the Culinary Workers Union, purportedly declared that this upturn in business could result in the Reno-headquartered firm rewarding its Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Robert Reeg, with a pay packet worth some $8.8 million.

According to the report, the union has not publicized what percentage pay increase it is seeking for its members employed inside Circus Circus Reno although did detail that it is also asking for these workers to be granted improved retirement and healthcare benefits. Khan purportedly furthermore proclaimed that Eldorado ‘will not agree to fair wage increases for its employees’ and ‘needs to stop treating its workers like second-class citizens.’

Reno resurgence:

Eldorado Resorts Incorporated is reportedly responsible for some 26 properties across the United States while its main competitors include the likes of Boyd Gaming Corporation and Penn National Gaming Incorporated. The firm has benefited from a Reno-area casino market that has just recorded two consecutive years of gross gaming revenue growth with the most recent annual figure of $865.77 million representing a comparable swell of almost 4.4%.

Recent renovations:

Finally, Eldorado recently spent approximately $100 million renovating hotel rooms inside Circus Circus Reno and its adjacent Silver Legacy Reno. As such, it cited the Nevada firm’s Casino Operations Director, Tony Marini, as proclaiming that ‘the more we add to it, the more we enhance our product, the better downtown is going to be and the better our region is going to be.’