On Wednesday, a massive crowd of workers blocked traffic on the Las Vegas Strip in a protest against the Cosmopolitan casino. In total, nearly 100 protesters were arrested out of a crowd that was estimated to be in excess of 1500 people.
The civil disobedience demonstration was held by the Culinary Worker Union outside the Cosmopolitan Hotel-Casino along Las Vegas Boulevard. Tourists watched from an overpass as police led the protesters into a white police bus as they chanted, "If we don't get no contract, you don't get no peace."
This was not the first time workers have demonstrated their disapproval. Earlier this year the union held two, one-day pickets outside the casino. The unionized workers have been protesting their lack of stable employment.
"They need to give workers here a contract; it affects us all," says Janet Hill, a porter at the Flamingo casino down the Strip. She was arrested moments later.
The protesters managed to completely shut down rush hour traffic for more than hour up and down the strip by sitting down en masse across the boulevard. It was the first time union member have deployed civil disobedience outside a unionized casino in over two decades.
A spokeswoman for the Cosmopolitan, Amy Rossetti claimed that management is continuing with negotiations to "find a fair agreement" with the union. Negotiations for contract work will open up for most of the other casinos along the Strip in April.
There have been numerous lags in the contract negotiations between the labor union and the Cosmopolitan, most notably over wages, health care, and job security. The Cosmopolitan is one of the few non-unionized hotels along the Strip, along with the Venetian, the Hard Rock, and the Palms.
Culinary Union members do fairly well for themselves. All union member receive free health care and above average wages. Most of the Cosmopolitan service workers requested representation in 2010 but have yet to receive it.
