"After 47 days on strike, 1,700 employees ratified a five-year agreement and began returning to work. The contract includes an immediate average 18% pay increase (with a $3/hour raise effective upon approval and $5/hour in total raises over the life of the deal), a bonus, no increases to healthcare costs, reduced workloads and other job protections. Workers had rejected an earlier proposal and continued picketing in rain and frigid temperatures; longtime guest-room attendant Alicia Weaver — hired in 1999 — framed the fight as protecting healthcare and winning better wages for her family and future generations, while valet Gabriel Robert Hernandez emphasized securing family health benefits after pandemic sacrifices. Management said the settlement allows full operations to resume after services and hours were reduced during the walkout." - Serena Maria Daniels
"During the month-long strike, I observed picket lines outside MGM Grand Detroit as part of a 3,700-worker walkout that included dealers, housekeepers, food and beverage staff, valets, and engineers; the casinos largely remained open despite some temporary closures and revenue loss. The tentative five-year deal the Detroit Casino Council will vote on would, if ratified, give workers an immediate average 18% pay raise, no increases in employee health-care costs, workload reductions, job-security and technology protections already used in other markets, retirement increases, and other gains. Matt Buckley, president and chief operating officer for MGM Resorts International’s Midwest group, said he was pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that ends the strike while giving a historic pay increase to DCC-represented employees." - Serena Maria Daniels
"This Detroit property has been the site of active strikes by unionized hospitality workers since October 17, and representatives in Las Vegas publicly expressed solidarity with those employees during press conferences. Union leaders said they hoped the tentative Las Vegas agreement would help inspire a resolution for workers striking at this location." - Janna Karel
"After much pushback and political maneuvering, MGM Grand and Motor City Casino opened the doors to temporary casino locations in 1999... A 1999 Free Press article says that within months of opening, MGM Grand had already hired 3,000 workers, 1,600 of whom were Detroiters." - Serena Maria Daniels
"A property whose hospitality workforce staged a strike in October, a development cited as part of a broader wave of labor action among casino and hotel employees. That October action helped galvanize regional organizing and demonstrations— including large pickets and civil disobedience events on Las Vegas Boulevard in late October—that preceded current contract negotiations and strike preparations in Nevada." - Janna Karel