Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders Local 165 union workers from across the Las Vegas Valley voted overwhelmingly Sept. 12 to give their negotiators the authorization to call for any action, including a strike, against Strip and downtown hotels, if contract talks should break down or reach an impasse.

Some 10,000 union workers showed up at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. meetings held in the Cashman Center Exhibit Hall, and with a 99 percent vote told Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor to do whatever it takes to get a new contract with the 14 hotels and two laundries that have yet to come to terms.