That Nevada depends on migrant labor was made clear in the May 2006 immigration rally. Nevada’s resort industry and the 60,000-member Culinary Union have long been allies on the immigration issue. More than half of the union’s members are Latino, and many are migrants. The Culinary Union supports a direct path to citizenship for all migrants, reunification for families separated by national borders, and measures to protect migrant workers from being exploited. However, the Culinary Union is also the tourism industry’s de facto human resources department; and although the union and its resort industry allies supported the march for immigration rights by mobilizing a mass petition signing, it encouraged its members to show up for work. The result was a win-win situation: the hotels continued to be serviced and maintained by their union workers, while another 50,000 Latino immigrant reform marchers filled the Las Vegas Strip on May 1, 2006.
