While some casinos, including Wynn and Encore, continue to support workers, most offered only a payout of up to two weeks, the industry's largest union said.
"We have to feed our families, put food on the table, the bills pile up," said Debra Jeffries, a waitress for four decades at a major casino on the Strip. "To see how our community fell apart with Las Vegas transformed into a ghost town is devastating."
Orders to stay home and travel bans abroad had already affected the arrival of tourists even before the casinos closed. The measures coincide with the beginning of the high season, when these workers earn more money.
If casinos in the United States remain closed until mid-May, it is estimated that they will stop generating revenue of US$ 43.5 billion - including nearby restaurants and bars - according to the country's gambling association, AGA.
Geoconda Arguello-Kline, treasurer and secretary of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas, invited major casino operators, such as MGM Resorts and Caesar’s Entertainment, to honor their “responsibility to the community”. "We feel that now the casino industry has abandoned its workers ... it is a very painful situation," she said.
MGM told AFP in a statement that its objective is “to guarantee resources not only to reopen, but also to operate successfully” because, according to the company, “the best thing to do for its employees in the long term is to bring them back to long-term work.”
The company also stated that it is helping employees find temporary jobs elsewhere and has created an emergency grant fund. Caesars Entertainment did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. "All of these gaming companies know that they are the heart of Las Vegas," insisted Arguello-Kline.
Source: AFP
