Officials with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas say the recently renovated off-Strip property can’t take on more financial pressure.
Sweetening its contract offer to striking workers would add more economic strain, especially since similar contracts at other local resorts have produced layoffs, they say. Dismal casino earnings over the past two years illustrate Virgin’s precarious spot, they say.
But Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of Culinary Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, isn’t buying the tale of a property in distress because of the money backing it.
The resort’s ownership team includes a multibillion-dollar Canadian pension fund, an investment management firm and Virgin Group, which is owned by the British billionaire, Sir Richard Branson.
