A tentative contract agreement announced Tuesday between the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and operators of The Venetian and Palazzo ended a decades-long standoff between Nevada’s largest labor organization and the biggest non-union property on the Strip.

The four-year agreement — which keeps the expiration date in line with other Strip resorts whose agreements expire in 2028 — still needs to be ratified by the 4,000 non-gaming hospitality workers at the two properties, which were once controlled by the late billionaire and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, who long rejected union organizing efforts.

The union said via social media and an email statement that the agreements were reached at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday. 

“We’ve always viewed time differently — this isn’t just about the here and now, it’s about building a legacy of fairness and dignity for working families in Las Vegas,” Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in a joint statement with Venetian CEO Patrick Nichols.

Nichols credited The Venetian and Palazzo employees, saying the resort put “their needs and interests at the center of our decision-making process. We look forward to ratification of the agreement and to a positive and productive relationship [with the union].”

The terms of the agreement are similar to the five-year contracts the Culinary and its affiliated Bartenders Local 165 negotiated with more than 40 Strip and downtown hotel-casinos. By the end of the five-year deal, the average worker at the properties will earn $37 an hour, including benefits — roughly $77,000 a year based on a 40-hour workweek.

The Culinary and Bartenders, along with two other unions, announced an agreement 14 months ago in which Apollo Global Management — operator of The Venetian and Palazzo — decided not to oppose the union's efforts to organize workers, which allowed labor representatives to be at the properties and discuss reasons to join the unions. The two other unions attempting to organize at the properties, Operating Engineers Local 501 and Teamsters Local 986, are still in contract discussions.

Apollo acquired the operations of The Venetian, Palazzo and Venetian Expo from Las Vegas Sands Corp. in February 2022 as part of a $6.25 billion deal with real estate investment trust VICI Properties. Apollo manages the resorts through a lease agreement.

Because of their history with Apollo in metropolitan areas across the U.S., the unions saw an opening to organize workers at The Venetian, which opened in 1999, and the Palazzo, which opened in 2007. The Sands sold the properties more than a year after Adelson died at age 87 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The contract with The Venetian and Palazzo leaves the Fontainebleau, which opened in December, as the only major Strip resort without a Culinary Union contract. The sides reached a card check neutrality agreement last September. 

Updated at 5:20 p.m. on 8/20/2024 to include Culinary and Venetian comments.