While Santarelli concludes that increased wages would have curbed cash-flow margins in 2022, he feels that the impact of higher pay would be minimal in terms of earnings before interest, depreciation, taxes, and amortization (EBITDA).
As a percentage of total employees, Golden is at the low end with 35 percent, MGM at the high point with 59 percent. Other operators have far fewer union employees Station Casinos had 7,800 - contrary to its lengthy strife with the Culinary and other unions - and Golden Entertainment had 6,300, many of them at the Strat. Third is Wynn Resorts, with 26,750, with fourth place held by Boyd Gaming (15,114 unionized workers). The most heavily unionized company is MGM Resorts International, with 69,000 union-repped workers on its Las Vegas payroll as of the end of 2021, followed by Caesars Entertainment with 49,000. As such, some of the other items that would likely come up for discussion could mitigate some of the increased wage expenses.” Also, citing Atlantic City’s contract talks, he raised the prospect of less-than-uniform pacts in terms of duration. “It is important to note,” Santarelli qualified, “that while the annual escalators of a union contract get the majority of the media headlines, a lot more minutia is involved in these discussions, especially in the hospitality industry.
