About 90 Culinary Union 226 members employed at Valley Hospital Medical Center have voted to authorize a strike.
In a news release, 99 percent of the members voted Friday for the strike authorization, the union said.
The union represents approximately 90 housekeeping, cooks, cashiers, kitchen workers and stewards at the hospital.
“Workers are fighting to keep their Culinary Union benefits, pension, health care, get fair wage increases, and have job security,” Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the union, said in the Saturday release.”Workers voted today to authorize a strike and the Culinary Union will call for a strike if a good contract isn’t reached soon.”
The union, now authorized to call a strike if a contract has not been reached, has not called or set a date for a strike.
Review-Journal attempts to reach a Valley Hospital spokesperson for comment were not successful Saturday evening.
Carlos Muñoz, a dishwasher at the hospital for 18 years, said in the release that he voted in favor of authorizing a strike “because we need to be able to keep our benefits including health insurance for my coworkers and our families.”
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, Nevada affiliates of UNITE HERE, represent 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno.
UNITE HERE represents 300,000 workers in gaming, hotel, and food service industries in North America.