Main Street

Viva Las Vegas

One of the constant frustrations of a recession is looking around you, and everything is cheaper than it was not too long ago…but you can’t afford it – because of the recession. Even if you don’t really think your job’s in danger, you’re just a little more worried about the future when you look around at rising unemployment rates.

Las Vegas is one of the places we’re seeing that most glaringly. Calculated Risk lays it out:

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, visitor volume is off 6.5% from last year, room rates are off 31.6%, and convention attendance is off 30%.
…
Visitors are back to 1998 levels, however the number of rooms has increased 28.5% since then – from 109,365 rooms in 1998 to 140,529 in 2008. Ouch.
…
[Housing] Prices almost doubled from January 2003 to the peak in early 2006 – and now are off almost 50% from the peak!

If you can afford it, that Vegas vacation could come cheap…but meanwhile, the tourism industry that’s suffering there is one of the most unionized sectors in the country. The story of Las Vegas’ workers is worth knowing, when you’re thinking about where to vacation and when you’re wondering how American businesses could do better by their workers.

Matt Vidal and David Kusnet describe in the Economic Policy Institute’s Organizing Prosperity (PDF) how the Culinary Union (UNITE HERE Local 226) there has achieved nearly 90% union representation for employees in the major hotels in Las Vegas, with 40-hour workweeks and hospitality workers in the area making 50% more than equivalent workers in non-union Reno. They’ve used that stability to

work with employers to create skills training and certification that help the employees move up in their jobs and help the hotels offer better services, attract more customers, and earn higher profits.

The end result has been an industry that treats its workers right and benefits from it. And now, like everywhere else, it’s feeling the squeeze of this economy.