Las Vegas taxi drivers represented by the Industrial, Technical and Professional Employees Union (ITPEU)/OPEIU Local 4873 won a new contract as a result of their 60-day strike at Yellow Checker Star Transportation. Drivers will receive a share of the metered fares, reinstatement of eligibility for a four-day/12-hours-a-day workweek, increases in annual bonuses and other benefits. The new contract was signed Thursday morning.

More than 100 striking taxi drivers from Las Vegas traveled to the state Capitol in Carson City, Nev., this week to rally in support of legislation to crack down on the practice of "long-hauling" and to give drivers a voice on the Nevada Taxicab Authority Board. As previously reported, the drivers, who are members of ITPEU/OPEIU Local 4873, have been on strike since May 3 from Yellow-Checker-Star Transportation.

Nearly 100 workers were arrested Wednesday night in Las Vegas as they engaged in civil disobedience to protest the Cosmopolitan casino's refusal to agree to a fair contract with its workers. As reported Wednesday, members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 blocked the street on the Las Vegas Strip, leading to 98 arrests.

On Wednesday night, members of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 will engage in the first act of civil disobedience on the Las Vegas strip by union members in more than 20 years in solidarity with workers from the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas casino. The workers have been negotiating a contract with the casino owner, Deutsche Bank, for more than two years and they contend that the owner refuses to agree on measures that are standard in other major casino contracts on the strip. Workers plan to engage in action by blocking traffic. Contracts for workers on the Strip will expire June 1.

Last Sunday, taxi drivers employed at Yellow-Checker-Star Transportation in Las Vegas authorized a strike, triggered by what they say are the company’s unfair labor practices by refusing to provide the union with information relative to collective bargaining. There are 1,703 drivers in the bargaining unit.

Industrial, Technical and Professional Employees (ITPEU) represents the taxi drivers and is an affiliate of the Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU). Unfair labor practice charges were filed by ITPEU/OPEIU Local 4873 on Friday, March 1.

The Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, a partnership among the Culinary Workers Union/UNITE HERE Local 226, Bartenders Union/UNITE HERE Local 165 and 26 properties on the Las Vegas Strip, teaches students everything they need to know to get a position with good wages and benefits in the hospitality industry. The vocational classes, which range from two weeks to three months, kick off with a half-day class, which teaches students interview techniques and how to be gainfully employed on the Strip. In addition to training 35,000 workers since its inception in 1993, it also serves nearly 900 hot meals daily to disadvantaged youth, seniors and veterans in the surrounding neighborhood. This video highlights how students trained in this program will find promising careers.

Comprehensive immigration reform with a road map to citizenship is essential to all of America’s workers, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a telephone press conference today, as he and Maria Elena Durazo, chair of the AFL-CIO’s immigration Committee, announced the labor movement’s campaign for a common-sense immigration process.

A road map to citizenship is now a real possibility for 11 million aspiring citizens, thanks to immigration reform blueprints from President Obama and a bipartisan group of senators.

But DREAMer Rafael Lopez reminds us that it will take real hard work and persistence to make citizenship a reality for the millions of aspiring Americans. Check out Lopez's thoughts in the YouTube video in the post. 

President Obama is announcing his plan for comprehensive immigration reform and a road map to citizenship today at 2:55 p.m. EST. Tune into the live feed from the White House here, and follow live updates from the AFL-CIO delegation that is at Del Sol High School to hear the president speak. 

Dealers are the face of Las Vegas, says Jeff Jaeger, president of Transport Workers (TWU) Local 721. Caesars Palace dealers recently gained their first contract on the job. Now they have the protection that only a written contract can provide in terms of wages, health care, tips and other working conditions. The dealers organized with TWU.

Watch TWU's new video, "Support Your Dealers," to learn more about the recent worker victory in Las Vegas.