Ahead of Labor Day, Nevada's largest labor union has a pointed message for politicians of all parties.

Plus... (Scott Givens) I don't know where else you can be this close to a performer and dancing.

There is no wall between you and the performer.

-A new show in Las Vegas celebrates the life of Bob Marley in groundbreaking fashion.

That's this week on Nevada Week.

♪♪ Support for Nevada Week is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Welcome to Nevada Week.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Culinary Workers Union.

It's Nevada's largest union and reports having 60,000 members.

They're hospitality workers and have historically helped Democrats win this state.

But last year, union leaders warned the Dems that they may be out of touch with voters.

So is that still the case?

Ahead of Labor Day, we're talking with Ted Pappageorge, Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Union.

So, Ted, the Culinary Union is celebrating its 90th year.

How healthy is this union when you take into account that across the country, union membership has declined over the past several decades?

(Ted Pappageorge) Well, I think we've shown here in Nevada and in Las Vegas that that doesn't have to be the case.

And this is a, what they call a right-to-work state.

So that means that at the end of the day, members can get union benefits and don't pay their union dues.

That's designed to destroy unions, basically, and we've been able to show incredible growth.

But it's really, it takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

And there's no secret in the water out here.

It's just we have to outwork the companies and we have to outwork our enemies and we have to work very hard to protect our members and their families.

-Perhaps a sign of your union strength is that all major casinos on the Las Vegas Strip are now unionized.

However, there are some who argue that those union contracts have led to the higher prices that people are seeing at the casinos.

Steve Hill of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said, in part, on this very show, "Union contracts that have been negotiated over the past couple of years have added some pretty large costs to the service provision in the destination as well...so we're having to take that into consideration as we look to price things in Las Vegas."

How would you respond to that?

-Well, I think folks like Steve Hill and others have to remember that Las Vegas isn't going to function without the workers here, and this is a number one worldwide destination that provides top quality service and customer experience.

And you have to have the best, and we do.

Our union members are skilled.

These are very physical jobs, and our members have been hit really hard with the cost of living.

And, you know, there are a lot of promises from this new administration about tackling the cost of living.

They've abandoned that, and I think we've ended up with some very fair contracts.

And I would just make one other point to Steve and some of the other folks, is that we haven't had a strike in this town for 27 years, until the Virgin Hotel, and that happened just recently.

And it was an argument about that standard.

And I would argue that we've been very reasonable with these companies.

At the same time, we have a Las Vegas dream.

Workers deserve the right to have fair wages.

They deserve the right to have health care, that they're not going to go bankrupt if they have to take their kids to the doctor, and they deserve the right to hope to be able to own a home if they work hard and save their money.

And I think we've been able to accomplish that here.

-One policy of the current President that I cannot imagine your members have an issue with is no tax on tips.

-Well, that's interesting.

It didn't happen.

There is no "no tax on tips," but there is a tax credit that made it through this big ugly bill that we saw.

But what a lot of folks don't realize, there was a lot of bipartisan work on that.

Senator Jacky Rosen, Senator Masto had bills.

So did Congressman Steven Horsford.

Senator Rosen used a procedure called unanimous consent that, while the big ugly bill was being fought over, her and Republican Senator Ted Cruz passed it through the Senate as a stop gap if it didn't make it through the big ugly bill.

So, look, we're going to see where that ends up.

There's a couple things that are problems with this tax credit.

-It's a tax deduction, actually, right-- -Well, yeah.

- --not a tax credit?

That might be more helpful if it was.

-Well, but I would say two things: One, you got to be making the tips to be able to deduct the taxes, and we're seeing a real downturn that is questionable and problematic.

But the other thing is this, is that there's a marriage tax penalty.

If you have two tip earners that are married, there's 100% penalty on this credit/deduction.

It also doesn't cover automatic gratuities.

If you have large parties or a partial buyout of restaurants or a full buyout, it doesn't apply to that.

The tip earner has to actually remove that out of their taxes.

And then the worst part is, is that they're temporary.

But all the tax cuts for the billionaires are permanent.

Look, our goal is to work with our congressional delegation and to be very vigilant with the Treasury and the IRS.

We've had a history of fighting with the IRS for fair taxation for tip earners.

This isn't new.

And it's not etched in stone that tip earners are taxed.

That law was legislated during the Reagan administration.

But since then, Senator Harry Reid was a champion for tip earners, for example.

We've had lots of battles.

We negotiated during the pandemic for a 60% reduction in the tip allocation, the rate that you agree that you're taxed at.

But then when that went away, the IRS, we think, kind of went overboard, and so we're welcoming the relief.

There's a lot of work to be done.

-I want to read you the title of a recent New York Times article.

It's "Union Leaders Get Tough With Democrats as Members Drift Toward Trump."

Is that the case for the Culinary Union?

-No.

That's a little bit of flamboyance in the title.

The majority of our members voted for Kamala Harris and working-class issues.

But the reality is, is that DC politicians and national Democrats, they have been tone deaf on this issue of the cost of living.

The economy has shown to be strong, but working-class folks are getting left behind and rich are getting richer and richer.

And that's really what we're talking about.

So what we've seen is that this administration campaigned and won on trying to lower the cost of living.

They've abandoned it completely, and they're busy arresting dishwashers and landscapers and fighting culture wars.

And what we're saying to national politicians and this administration is that you need to pay attention to the cost of living.

And working class voters, that's number one.

-When you say "arresting dishwashers" under the increased immigration enforcement under this administration, I mean, are your dishwashers getting arrested here in Las Vegas?

-Well, we've got two of our members.

One's a 40-year member that's in detention right now, and he's got a hearing this week.

It's just an abomination, and it's unAmerican what's going on.

-The member that you spoke of, are you able to tell us whether he has a criminal history?

-Well, that's what happens.

What happens is, is folks may have gotten stopped for drug possession or whatever years ago.

His was 20 years ago.

He had a plea bargain.

And he paid his price, and he's been a functioning member of society.

But we're hoping that this doesn't continue.

What we'd like to see from this administration is that the folks that have to work in construction, they have to work in hospitality, they have to work on the farms and agriculture that this greatest economy on Earth needs.

The United States economy is the greatest economy in the world; but we need workers, and immigrant workers are a part of that.

So this kind of fantasy that you're somehow going to take out all these workers and somehow we're going to function, it's going to be harmful to our economy.

That's what we think.

And what we think is the system needs to be fixed.

There needs to be law and order at the border, and violent criminals should be deported.

But folks that are here working and have families should have a chance to be here and work, and they should have a pathway to be American citizens.

-In that New York Times article I mentioned, you said that prior to this past election, you were warning that Nevada could end up voting for Trump, that Trump could win Nevada, a Republican taking this state for the first time in 20 years.

Do you think anyone is listening now?

Are the Democrats listening now?

-Well, I don't know.

But I think that Democrats and Republicans are off track here, in a way.

And what we really have to do, we think, is pay attention to both sides of the coin, because this idea of mass deportations of a workforce that actually is needed, mass tariffs and threats to our allies that are also our best customers, the fear was a slump.

Our members are calling it a "Trump slump."

And the reality is that slump is here, at least for Las Vegas, for our members in the state of Nevada.

So look, what we're seeing and what we're hearing from our members is that they're just very worried.

They're very concerned.

And what, what we need this administration to do is essentially walk and chew gum at the same time.

You can enforce the border, you can fight for free trade and fair trade, but also understand that travel, tourism, and hospitality, it's the number one industry in the state of Nevada.

But in every major metropolitan city--LA, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Miami--it's number two or number three in revenue and job creation.

So there has to be real correction with this administration to understand that you're harming the economy, and we don't want it to ripple out any farther.

-I imagine the Culinary Union is already gearing up for the 2026 midterms.

-Well, I would say no.

I would say that what we're concerned right now is this Trump slump is number one.

Our members are concerned.

We've seen targeted layoffs.

We've seen, you know, restaurants closed on the Strip or hours reduced.

You know, restaurants might have been open seven days, only open six days in some of our hotels.

-Is that what you mean by "targeted layoffs"?

-Yeah.

But plus also, 25% of our members are part time.

This is-- When business is normal, they're working.

But if the business has a downturn like it does now, then those are the first folks that lose hours.

They lose their shifts.

And so that's our number one concern, is to make sure that-- and to work with our members to make sure that our contracts are followed, that workloads are not increased if cuts are made.

And that's our job.

Now, at the same time, you know, we can work very hard for something in our contract, and politicians can take it away.

-The Culinary Union certainly played-- Well, I want you to fill this word in for me.

What kind of a role did the Culinary Union play in last year's election?

-Well, what happens for us is that housekeepers, cooks, food servers, and bartenders take a leave of absence, and they come to the union to join our neighborhood walk program.

And they knock on doors, they talk to their neighbors and our members, and they register people to vote and encourage them to vote and educate them about the issues.

Our members volunteer in a significant way.

We have probably over 1,000 shop stewards, you know, workplace leaders that are trained to help folks enforce the contract.

But also, for example, we've had a big issue on the daily room cleaning, the idea that Las Vegas should have full service.

And we've had some real fights with our state Democrats who removed the regulations on that.

And for our members-- -Let's stop there to remind our viewers of that situation.

This was something that happened during covid, mandatory daily room cleanings, but then the state legislature got rid of that.

And so as a result, you looked at the Democrats who voted to get rid of that mandate and you said, we're not endorsing you, correct?

-No, that's correct.

But I would just remind folks that, look, there's been regulations in state law to mandate cleaning upon checkout.

What happened during covid was this, this issue of-- It's a long standing issue about cleaning, daily cleaning, whether it should happen or whether you should just leave the rooms dirty and customers can decide or pay more for cleaning.

So what we argued is that we argued for those regulations.

Democrats, state Democrats didn't support our members and our housekeepers, and they feel it's not only just a workload issue, but it's a safety issue.

And so absolutely, we told those Democrats, we're not going to support you.

And at the end of the day, our members, they might be Republicans, Independents, or Democrats.

The majority of them, they're with Democrats and they're working-class folks, so that's where they tend to go.

But it's not etched in stone.

And so our members are going to listen to folks that really pay attention to this issue of the cost of living and also take on issues like this daily room cleaning issue.

-Ted Pappageorge, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week.

-Great.

Thank you.

-From unions to unity now.

Creators of Bob Marley Hope Road say the new show at Mandalay Bay brings people together with live music and immersive story telling.

You don't buy seats to this show.

Instead, guests move through multiple rooms and are meant to feel as if they're a part of a party celebrating the Jamaican icon's life and legacy.

Scott Givens, who's produced live events for global summits, theme park parades, and numerous Olympic games, is a co-executive producer of Bob Marley Hope Road.

And Nevada Week sat down with him to learn more.

Okay, so Bob Marley Hope Road is described as a "groundbreaking entertainment experience in Las Vegas."

What makes it groundbreaking?

-Gosh, I'll start with Las Vegas has amazing entertainment and such a long history, so being described as groundbreaking is a big deal.

-Yeah.

-And I think we are really unique, because it's a novel format.

You come in and you're standing.

And you begin in one room, and a lot of times guests think that's the only room, but then we take you through six more experiences over the course of the night.

We move you through the scenery and the music that Bob Marley created.

-That doesn't exist anywhere else in Las Vegas right now.

-It doesn't.

There's some-- there's some great standing shows, and there's some amazing things you can see in town-- -And a lot of immersive exhibits.

-And a lot of immersive, but this kind of combination of having-- We've got 41 cast members that are part of the performance.

And, you know, being able to interact with all these casts and have them carry you through the journey is a unique experience.

-When you talk about standing, that's an important, big decision, because there is a large clientele in Las Vegas who wants to sit and watch something.

-Yeah.

A lot of times when people think show, they think show, sit, don't participate.

We wanted to turn that around and say, no, no, you are a participant.

You're actually a performer and a participant in the show.

And you can opt in.

Our cast will invite you into the conversation, invite you into the performance.

And if you pass, they'll just kind of gently move along and invite the next person.

But if you engage, they'll pull you in and it's really wonderful.

So you can go through and become a participant.

We do have seating for people's comfort.

So some people do want to sit.

So we sit about 20% of our audience, and any one room can have a seat and take a little rest.

And what we find is people want to do that particularly toward the end, but they get their choice.

-Also perhaps groundbreaking, I'm not sure, you talked off camera with me about the ability to have three shows running at one time.

Explain how that works.

-Well, the whole idea is we wanted you to be in this intimate, immersed environment of Bob Marley, right?

So you come in with 100 to 150 guests in that experience, and but the way we could make this work in a large production show in Las Vegas is we actually can run three at one time.

So every 30 minutes, we can start a new show.

And as we're building our resiliency, and we're building up to that.

We have some operational things to get ready, but we believe this fall, we'll be running every 30 minutes.

And that means there's three shows in the venue at one time.

-And the show itself is 75 minutes.

-Correct.

The show's 75 minutes.

So all three are 75 minutes.

And you travel with one group of cast.

You get to know them, and they go through the journey with you.

And then they come back around and grab another audience, and they go through the journey with them.

-There is a local entertainment reporter, John Katsilometes, has been here for years, is kind of the go-to entertainment reporter.

And he called this a bellwether for other Strip properties.

They're watching to see how this goes.

What do you think of that?

-I respect John and his perspective on it.

It's a big risk when you do a project that doesn't have an immediate-- Lots of people like to copy.

And when folks said, What is this like?

It's not like anything else.

And so when you try to jump out and do something really unique, you kind of jump into the void.

And so I think we're in that place where we're proving the model works.

We're seeing guests love it.

Our guest reviews and guest experience are just through the roof because it is so different and it is so authentic and high energy, because I don't know where else you can be this close to a performer and dancing.

There is no wall between you and the performer, and that's just really reading through our customer experience.

-So the press release about this mentions your unwavering commitment to Bob Marley's vision.

How did you determine that vision?

-You know, we started with a partnership with the family, because Cedella Marley has been our partner.

And I talk to Cedella every week.

We had questions.

We sent her creative.

She approves.

-She's Bob Marley's daughter.

-She's Bob Marley's eldest daughter, and she looks after his name and likeness and musical legacy.

And Cedella, you know, did everything from help us pick the paint color on the VW Bus that's in our show, because she was in the tour bus as a young child with her father.

And so we really wanted to have that authenticity to represent the legacy of the family well.

And then we also-- And I'll give you the truth.

It was Cedella's idea to go to Jamaica and cast.

Half of our cast is from Jamaica.

Some were Jamaican Americans, but some are directly from Kingston.

And they just bring an authenticity and a passion for this music and for Jamaica, in general, that is live, alive, and well here in Vegas.

-It's wild to think that a bunch of people from Jamaica have now moved to Las Vegas for this.

-Well, you can't-- The Jamaican accent, the patois that they speak and the passion they have for the music, we can't fake that.

And so they bring that authenticity, and they're cast from all over the world that are part of the show.

But the spoken roles, the singing roles, the principals are dominantly Jamaican, and they just, they give us such authenticity that you just can't beat.

-When you talk about committing to Bob Marley's vision, and certainly he has his daughter, but he has many other children.

And I wonder, I mean, isn't that subjective what his vision is?

Might they all have conflicting ideas?

-Yeah.

They all get along, and they all help.

So Bob's three children with his wife, Rita, were part of the show.

Stephen helped record music for us, because there's kind of, the music has been re-orchestrated.

The BPM, the beats per minute, are sped up, and it's much more of a party and dance hall vibe.

And Stephen's recordings are all over that.

Ziggy helped us with music choice and music selection and comments on some of the murals that you see outside in Trench Town.

He helped us with some of the creative, but Cedella was the day-to-day manager.

And and all three of them really had universally accepted ideas of how they wanted to represent their father's legacy.

-Was there any conflict ever, or is there an example you can provide of when you may have proposed something and they said, no, he wouldn't have liked that?

-You know, no, there was really no conflict between the three.

But there were things that we didn't know.

We went to Jamaica, we studied.

I took the creative team.

We, you know, talked to so many people, but there were things that we didn't represent at first in the creative.

So there's a mural now in Trench Town of Rita, and there's a mural of Haile Selassie, the king of kings, the Ethiopian king that is part of the Rastafarian belief system.

Those weren't in our original vision.

Not that we didn't think they were important, but the family just said, These are very important.

They need to be in.

So they helped us prioritize and make sure that we treated things in the appropriate way that would be consistent with Bob's beliefs.

-And when you talk about Rastafarian beliefs, there are some that make me think maybe Las Vegas wouldn't be the right fit for that when we're talking about, you know, opposition to materialism and perhaps excessive use of anything.

I mean, that's partly what Las Vegas is.

-But Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world.

And here's what I would say: You know, we named this show Hope Road for two reasons.

One, Bob wrote most of his music and recorded at 56 Hope Road in Kingston.

So that's his-- that's his home, and it's still there.

It's a museum these days.

But we just think that word "hope" is a really special word, and it's really what Bob stood for, hope and love and kind of a broad embrace of humanity.

We think that belongs in Vegas, and folks are having a good time with that.

-Stephen and Ziggy, their daughters are both DJs in this.

-They have-- They are DJs that are part of the show.

So two of Bob Molly's grandkids-- That's how involved the family is.

Two of Bob Molly's grandkids are in our cast and are part of the performance, and it's really, really fun, and they just bring a spirit and a zest.

I would say it's equal to the rest of our cast, but having the authenticity of a couple of Bob Marley's grandkids is really fun.

-Bob Marley's wife, Rita, I read that she had a private moment with the family ahead of the opening.

Were you there for that?

-I brought her into the room, Rita and the family, and I let them have their moment, because private is, it's really for her.

And we have an experience when you come in that is a photo experience that is kind of our queue, but it takes you from where Bob was born at Nine Mile in Jamaica, 256 Hope Road, and it's photos and albums and different things on his journey.

And I will say it was very emotional for the family, because she was part of those memories.

-You've said that you want this to inspire people.

What do you want them to be inspired to do?

-You know, we say "Be moved by Marley" as our tagline.

And, you know, and that has a couple meanings.

Of course, you move through the show, but Bob Marley stood for so many things, and we do want people to be emotionally moved by his message and his music.

And I think one of the things I learned in my journey, great shows can live on multiple levels.

Some people can come in and just love the music and sing along and just have a great time, and then others can really be emotionally touched by what you're doing.

And we hope a lot of people get that second part.

-Okay.

Scott Givens, FiveCurrents, thank you so much for joining Nevada Week.

-Thank you very much for coming to our home, Bob Marley Hope Road.

-Bob Marley would have turned 80 years old this year.

And to honor his birthday, his sons, the Marley brothers, played a tribute concert, which you can watch on PBS passport.

For more information on that or any of the other resources discussed on this show, go to vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek, and I'll see you next week on Nevada Week.