Union workers OK deal with Convention Center food service provider

Culinary union workers with Sodexo Live! overwhelmingly ratified their four-year contract agreement with the Las Vegas Convention Center’s food-service provider.

A Culinary Local 226 spokesperson said Tuesday that 99 percent of those who voted were in favor of the contract, in a vote that concluded Monday evening.

“Congratulations on the historic & great contract that has the best wage increases, job security, includes standard tech language, & protects health care & pension benefits!” the Culinary union tweeted late Monday.

The union did not disclose how many workers voted, but said earlier there are about 400 Culinary workers at Sodexo.

A Sodexo representative declined to comment until the contract is formally signed.

Negotiating teams for Sodexo and the union hammered out an agreement hours before union workers vowed to walk off the job on March 11. The strike was averted three days before the start of the huge ConExpo-Con/Agg construction equipment trade show, which drew 139,000 people — making it the best-attended Las Vegas trade show since CES 2020 that brought 171,000 attendees.

At the time, Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the union, said the contract “mirrors the Culinary union technology standard language in contracts on the Strip and downtown (Las Vegas) by setting clear goals regarding worker retention, job training, advance notice of technology implementation, automation and a severance package.”

And after the agreement was reached, Sodexo Vice President of Brand and Communications Paul Pettas said the deal would ensure milestone wage increases, expand health coverage benefits and increase access to pensions and “ensure increased economic vitality for the individuals who have careers with us at the Las Vegas Convention Center.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.