A 69-day strike by some 700 non-gaming workers at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas quietly ended Wednesday with a joint announcement that a new contract had been reached.

The agreement between the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 and operators of the off-Strip resort was surprising given neither party had announced that contract negotiations had resumed. The last discussions took place seven days before the walkout began Nov. 15.

Culinary spokeswoman Bethany Khan said in a text message talks had resumed in the last few days and members voted to accept the terms of the five-year contract Wednesday. The previous agreement expired in 2023. Picket lines were down by Wednesday afternoon. 

She said Culinary and Virgin representatives declined to comment formally and issued a three-paragraph joint statement in which the sides committed to move past the contract negotiations and work toward “fostering a positive and collaborative working relationship for the benefit of all team members at the property.” 

Khan said Virgin accepted the contract language in place at other Strip properties, which Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge told The Nevada Independent in an interview last week was the sticking point to settling the strike.

While Virgin, citing the resort’s financial situation, sought minimal raises in the first few years of the contract, the union held firm to a deal reached with other Strip, off-Strip and downtown casinos that included a 32 percent salary increase over five years.

“When we set a deal, whether it's the Strip standards or the downtown standards, we commit that we're going to get that deal,” Pappageorge said last Thursday before a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Culinary Health Center.

He said giving Virgin a contract that was different from what the union negotiated with other casino operators would “wreck our standards. No other company will settle a deal if somehow they know that all they have to do is hold out to get a better deal.”

The strike was the Culinary’s longest in Las Vegas in 27 years, topped only by the strike at the Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Strip that lasted six years, four months and 10 days. It ended when owner Margaret Elardi sold the casino to billionaire Phil Ruffin in 1998. 

Last May, the union walked out for 48 hours at Virgin in an attempt to force management to negotiate a new deal.

In addition to picket lines in an attempt to disrupt business at the 1,500-room Virgin during the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and the National Finals Rodeo, the unions held several civil disobedience demonstrations where members were handcuffed by Las Vegas police and cited for trespassing. The unions attempted to convince performers to cancel engagements at the resort and called out the University of Southern California football team for staying at the property while playing in the Las Vegas Bowl in December. 

Pappageorge said Virgin workers were paid by the union $500 a week to picket four hours a day, five days a week.

“It’s a sacrifice. It doesn't pay their bills,” he said. “Some folk had to get second jobs. Some folks have spouses working. We had a hardship fund that helped folks that are in special need.”

The unions spent much of 2023 negotiating new five-year deals with Las Vegas resort operators, initially reaching agreements with the three major Strip casino companies — MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts — in November. More than two dozen downtown and off-Strip resorts settled contracts through February 2024.

The Culinary said employee raises — 10 percent in the first year — were the largest in the union’s 89-year history. The average worker earned roughly $28 an hour under the previous contract — including health and pension benefits. By the end of the new five-year deal, the average worker will earn $37 an hour, including benefits — roughly $77,000 a year based on a 40-hour workweek. 

The contracts also included workload reductions for guest room attendants, the reinstatement of daily hotel room cleanings, increased safety protections for workers on the job and language covering the expanding use of technology and artificial intelligence and how workers can be retrained or receive financial benefits if their jobs are replaced.

In December while the strike was underway, Virgin’s management was licensed by Nevada gaming regulators to operate the small casino inside the resort. Gaming operations had been under the supervision of Connecticut's Mohegan Indian Tribe. Virgin, formerly known as Hard Rock Las Vegas, reopened in 2021 under new ownership and following an 18-month renovation.

Virgin President Cliff Atkinson told the Gaming Control Board the property had struggled since its reopening.