About 1,300 workers at Wynn Resorts’ Encore Boston Harbor went on strike Friday after a deadline passed without a new labor agreement. The employees, represented by UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25, walked out following the 31 August expiration of their previous collective bargaining agreement. The casino remains operational despite the walkout.
Wynn Resorts said in a statement that the unions chose to strike despite the company’s continued efforts to negotiate a new deal. Workers are calling for wage increases, healthcare and pension benefits, and job-security protections.
“We are committed to finding common ground that is fair, financially sustainable and protects jobs for the long term,” Wynn said.
Financial backdrop
The strike lands against a modest revenue decline at the property. Encore Boston Harbor generated $209 million in revenue during the second quarter, a 3% drop year-over-year, according to Wynn Resorts’ second-quarter results posted last month. A 12% year-over-year decline in table-games win drove a 6% fall in overall casino revenue, though Wynn CEO Craig Billings noted the property posted second-quarter records for hotel revenue and revenue per available room, with slot handle running slightly ahead of last year.
The dispute adds to a wider pattern of rising labor-cost pressure across land-based gaming, a theme echoed in Bally’s latest quarterly results and in Caesars Entertainment’s second-quarter figures, both of which point to operators managing cost pressures alongside uneven demand.
Strike authorization and timeline
Workers voted to authorize the strike on 20 August, well ahead of Friday’s walkout. Teamsters Local 25 president Thomas G. Mari framed the action as a response to the company’s stance toward its workforce.
“When a company refuses to respect the workers who make its profits possible, we shut it down,” Mari said. “The Teamsters don’t cross picket lines and won’t be intimidated.”
Union deals across the US
Labor agreements have been a recurring flashpoint for casino operators in recent years, with workers pushing for stronger benefits and job-security provisions amid macroeconomic uncertainty and the rise of potentially disruptive technologies such as AI – pressures also playing out beyond gaming, as seen in Betfred’s recent shop closures and job losses in the UK.
All nine Atlantic City casinos reached new labor deals this summer without a strike, though the union there opted for one-year contracts rather than the customary three-or-more-year terms, citing uncertainty from looming competition in New York City and New Jersey’s own online gaming market. In Las Vegas, the Culinary Union has unionized the entire Strip and secured historic wage increases in its last round of negotiations, having previously used strikes as leverage ahead of the inaugural Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and the following year’s Super Bowl.
Petra Vanhoof has spent the better part of a decade following the shifting tides of gambling regulation across Europe and beyond. She came up through the compliance side of the industry before pivoting to writing, which gives her a grounded, no-nonsense perspective on the rules, loopholes, and political maneuvering that shape how operators actually do business. She is particularly drawn to the gap between what regulators say and what the market ends up doing in response.