Northbound traffic on Tropicana Avenue briefly turned into a parking lot yesterday evening when members of Culinary Workers Local 226 sat down in the street at University Center Drive in Las Vegas, blocking cars and ending up in handcuffs.
The sit-in, staged as an act of civil disobedience over stalled contract talks with airport contractors, clogged a key intersection near the UNLV campus as officers moved in and pulled some demonstrators out of the roadway while vehicles stacked up behind them.
Photos show arrests at the intersection
Images published by the Las Vegas Sun show protesters filling the northbound lanes at Tropicana and University Center while officers take several participants into custody. The photo gallery, posted Wednesday night, captures the moment traffic was stopped during the sit-in and the subsequent arrests.
Union warned it would carry out civil disobedience
The Culinary Workers Local 226 had already telegraphed what was coming. In a media advisory issued Tuesday, the union announced a 5:30 p.m. demonstration at Tropicana and University Center and said it would participate in an act of civil disobedience (mass arrests).
Part of a broader escalation
The move fits a pattern of increasingly confrontational tactics by the Culinary union. Nearly 60 people were arrested in civil-disobedience actions tied to the Virgin Hotels dispute last year, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In October 2023, about 58 people were cited after a large sit-in on the Strip, according to the Associated Press.
Why the airport was the target
The union said Wednesday’s action was aimed at disadvantaged-business-enterprise operators at Harry Reid International Airport, where nearly 400 hospitality workers are employed across 21 outlets represented by the Culinary and Bartenders unions.
The press release warned that, if no agreement is reached, escalations such as strikes could disrupt airport operations during the busy holiday travel season.
What comes next
The union has not announced a formal strike date, but its advisory said members voted on Nov. 12 to authorize a strike and that leadership is ready to increase pressure if talks stall, according to the union release.
