While gaming revenue is up across the state, hospitality workers say their wages and earnings are strained.
Josefina Hurtado, a food server at Westgate Resorts and small business owner, works two jobs to save money to put her children through college. She says she’s been hit hard by a “Trump slump” since early February.
Hurtado, a single mother of three, shrank her social activities to in-home festivities. Fortunately, their soccer club relaxed its rules, allowing her children to continue playing even though she could no longer afford their fees. She is concerned about her quality of life and future, especially as she approaches putting her children through college.
“There’s no way I’m going to be able to plan college tuition, pay my bills, food—even working multiple jobs,” Hurtado said at the “It’s Better in a Union” rally last week.
She was one of roughly 50 Las Vegas hospitality workers gathered at the Culinary Union headquarters for a rally about President Donald Trump’s policies and their effect on the local economy. They issued a warning about the “Trump slump” in Las Vegas, citing slow work shifts, early restaurant closures, and reduced traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, which is home to the world-famous Strip.
Union leaders also urged unity among workers while criticizing the Trump administration’s harm to local businesses, and called for more rallies and “picket lines.”
“The labor movement has a responsibility to lift up all workers,” Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer at Culinary Union 226, told the crowd. “We need more rallies and more actions, not less.”
The Las Vegas Conventions and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported an 11% decline in Nevada visitors this year compared to the same time last year. Each LVCVA category of visitation surveyed was reportedly in decline, including convention attendance, hotel occupancy, and the number of dollars patrons spend daily.
A slump in tourism in the nation’s highest unemployed state is reflected outside of gaming, causing a dip in spending, such as on food and beverage in Clark County, which dropped by 1.6% or more than $191 million this year, reports Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Democratic US House Rep. Dina Titus warned that Las Vegas’ economic lag often signals what’s to come for the rest of the nation.
“We’re kind of the canary in the cave,” she said. “Once something happens here, it starts to happen around the rest of the country.”
Though tourism is down, gaming revenue is up in Nevada, particularly off the Las Vegas Strip, including in Downtown Las Vegas, Clark County, Washoe County, Reno, and Sparks.
According to Pappageorge, the city was headed in a different direction before Trump’s culture war fights, immigration agenda and economic policies came into effect. He called for a “course correction” at the White House to get things back on track.
“We were poised for the hospitality industry to grow even bigger this year,” Pappageorge said. “That’s all been reversed.”
Titus added that Trump is building an economy for the wealthy, so while casinos see gains, workers grapple with economic suppression.
“You can feel the slide thanks to Donald Trump, who was going to make America great again, but not for us,” she said.
