Bally’s says it will no longer accept hotel bookings after April 2 and will relocate any customers who reserve past the closing date.
The company’s announcement came just a month after the Tropicana and the Culinary Workers Union, which represents about 500 workers there, reached an agreement for a new five-year contract.
Ted Pappageorge, the union’s secretary-treasurer, said he hopes the severance package secured in the latest contract will ease what he expects to be a difficult transition for the Tropicana’s largely senior workforce, many of whom, he said, have worked at the hotel-casino for decades.
Under the new union contract, the employees will receive severance pay of $2,000 for each year of work. For veteran workers at the Tropicana, Pappageorge said, that totals tens of thousands of dollars.
“In Las Vegas, hotels are bought and sold on a regular basis,” Pappageorge said. “These new projects are welcome, but workers can’t be discarded like an old shoe.”