Vegas Economy

Each day we see another store close. Another working person laid off. What will it take for these companies to realize they are damaging the economy worse then the down slide did to begin with. Here in Nevada there are the unions to deal with, so the big companies lay off employees. Union makes these companies pay large amounts of base pay for the lowest paid jobs in any other place in the US. Vegas pays the union food server approx. $12.03 for every hour. Where as a nonunion food server receives $5.85 an hour for more work and the same hours. So looking at the wage rate you would think a union food server is better then a nonunion food server. Normally the real truth is that union or non union you either get the same treatment or perhaps better from the nonunion server. Bartenders are the same here in Vegas the most sought after jobs are on the strip, but if you are nonunion or just moved here it does not matter how much experience you have you will not get a strip bartender position until you have joined the union and been a bar backfor six months and take the union class. Did I also mention that you have to pay for this even though you been a bartender for years. You might want to do this but that does not guarantee a job on the strip. If you are lucky you can get a extra board position where you might get to work once or twice a week because just like food servers, bartenders do not leave their jobs. Some of these people make $16.00 plus and hour.

Most nonunion employees are there because they love what they do and want to take care of every guest. Sometime union employees are there just waiting out to be fully vested in the union so they can retire. Do not take me wrong here I feel everyone is entitled to working, but why stay where you hate your job and cause others to be laid off and even fired.

They say Vegas is a right to work state but with that said there are so many vacant positions because of the high wage rate companies can not and will not pay what is expected. This has caused everyone to rethink how they live and this makes a big cut in what is spent and who can afford to even live here. Maybe we need to go back and rethink how things are done?