More Than 1,300 Encore Boston Harbor Casino Workers Go on Strike After Contracts Expired Aug. 31
Members of UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 walked out Friday at the Wynn Resorts-owned casino in Everett, Massachusetts; the casino says it remains open.
A $10 Number and a $95,000 Number Are Both True
At about 7 a.m. on Friday, September 4, 2026, more than 1,300 workers walked off the job at Encore Boston Harbor, the Wynn Resorts casino in Everett, Massachusetts[1][2]. They set up pickets outside the property and kept them going through the weekend[2][9]. The casino says it stayed open the whole time[2][6].
The workers belong to two unions. UNITE HERE Local 26 represents most of the hotel and food-service staff. Teamsters Local 25 represents a smaller group of 211 workers — valet drivers, cage cashiers, warehouse and floral staff, and the call center[3]. Both unions' contracts expired at the end of Monday, August 31[6]. Teamsters members had already voted 97% on August 20 to authorize a strike if no deal came together[3].
Here is the number that explains almost nothing on its own: Encore says the average union worker's pay and benefits package is worth more than $95,000 a year[4]. The unions say they are asking for $10 more an hour, phased in over three years, for workers who don't get tips[2]. Both figures are accurate. They are also not measuring the same thing, and that gap is most of the fight.
What $95,000 Actually Counts
Encore's $95,000 figure is not a paycheck number. It's an average of total compensation — hourly wages, tips, and the company's cost for health insurance and pension contributions, spread across every union job at the property[4]. Wynn compares that to $80,639 for similar jobs across Greater Boston, and says union pay and benefits have grown 36.8% over the past four years while the casino's revenue grew just 1.9%[4].
An average like that gets pulled upward by the best-paid jobs in the group, and it rises when insurance premiums go up, even if no worker's take-home pay changes at all. So a $95,000 average across the whole bargaining unit can be true at the same time as a housekeeper or cook earning well below it in base wage. The unions' $10-an-hour ask is a base-wage number for specific jobs, not an average across the property.
Local 26 president Carlos Aramayo argues the real comparison isn't the Greater Boston average — it's what other unionized hotels in Boston already pay[2]. His case: Encore is a five-star property, and its workers should be paid like workers at other five-star union hotels, not like the market at large. Neither side's number is fabricated. They're just answering different questions, and no public document settles which one should govern — the actual wage schedule sits inside a contract that isn't public[4].
The Fight Over Hours Nobody's Headline Mentions
Money isn't the only thing on the table. The old contract also guaranteed that a set number of workers would get scheduled hours — a staffing floor. The unions say Encore wants that guarantee gone, and they're fighting to keep it[2][6].
That provision matters more than it sounds. A casino can cut its labor costs without touching a single hourly rate, just by scheduling fewer people for fewer shifts. A housekeeper earning a high hourly wage but working three shifts a week can take home less than one earning a lower wage over five shifts. With the staffing guarantee, labor cost behaves almost like a fixed cost for Encore. Without it, management can flex the headcount down whenever gambling revenue softens.
For a property that is, in fact, seeing revenue soften, removing that guarantee is worth more over three years than winning the wage argument outright. For workers, it's the difference between a predictable paycheck and one that moves with the casino's slow season. Wynn's public statement says it's "committed to finding common ground that is fair, financially sustainable and protects jobs for the long term," and that "the unions have chosen to initiate a strike despite our continued efforts to reach an agreement through negotiations"[2].
A Business That Isn't Growing
Underneath both numbers sits a property that has stopped expanding. Encore Boston Harbor brought in $847 million in operating revenue in 2025, according to Wynn's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission[5]. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue was $209.3 million — down from $215.7 million a year earlier, a drop of about 3%[6]. That's roughly $6.4 million less in three months. It's not a collapse. It's still a $200-million-a-quarter business. But it's moving the wrong direction while labor costs rise, and that combination is the core of Wynn's case for holding the line[5][6].
Wynn's own SEC filings name the specific threats: competition from casinos in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and the growth of online sports betting pulling gambling dollars away from physical casinos[5]. The company has also spent money that didn't pay off — a $28 million sports-betting technology conversion in 2023 that Encore's own president said would never earn back its cost[5]. That's the kind of detail that makes Wynn's caution look less like corporate stinginess and more like a company that's already been burned once betting on growth that didn't show up.
The unions' answer is straightforward: the property still made $847 million last year, and it can afford to pay more even if this quarter dipped[5]. Both statements can be true. A shrinking-but-still-large business is exactly the kind of situation where reasonable people land in different places on what "affordable" means.
Who Else Has a Stake
The strike lands on more than the two bargaining tables. Massachusetts licenses Encore and takes a cut of what it earns through gaming tax revenue, so the state has an interest in the property staying open and profitable, even though the Massachusetts Gaming Commission doesn't bargain wages — its authority covers the license, not the contract. Everett, where Encore is the dominant private employer and taxpayer, has its own reasons to want a quick resolution.
Other unions in the region are watching too. Massachusetts has already had a Mass General Brigham nurses' strike and a Republic Services trash strike this year, and Governor Maura Healey has weighed in publicly on both. A win for Local 26 at Encore — one of the region's biggest hospitality employers — would give other hotel unions a stronger number to point to in their own negotiations. That's the logic of pattern bargaining: whatever Encore signs becomes the reference point the next contract cites, which is why Local 26 is bargaining harder than a single property might otherwise justify.
How the Coverage Has Split
Local Boston outlets have led with the workers' side. The Boston Globe opened its main strike story with a picketer's quote — "We're here to win" — before laying out any numbers, and GBH's coverage carried the unions' wage figures prominently while giving Encore's financial argument less room[1][2]. To its credit, the Globe also ran a separate piece on August 27 focused on Encore's competitive pressure and flat growth, so its overall coverage is more balanced than any single headline suggests[5].
Gaming trade press runs the opposite way. Casino.org's headline features the $95,000 figure and leads with Wynn's numbers, treating the pay-and-benefits comparison as close to dispositive without noting what an average obscures[4]. The British trade outlet iGaming Business covers the strike mainly as a financial risk to the company, weighing contract terms against the revenue drop — though it does include one sharp on-record quote from Teamsters Local 25 president Thomas G Mari: "When a company refuses to respect the workers who make its profits possible, we shut it down"[6].
As of this writing, no major national conservative outlet — Fox News, the New York Post, the Washington Examiner — had covered the strike at all, and no non-Western outlet outside the British gambling trade press had touched it either. For now, this remains a regional labor story and an industry-watched one, with the picket lines outside Encore Boston Harbor still standing and neither side's numbers yet reconciled.
Summary
More than 1,300 workers walked off the job at Encore Boston Harbor, the Wynn Resorts casino in Everett, Massachusetts, on the morning of Friday, Sept. 4, 2026[1][2]. They belong to two unions: UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents hotel and food-service workers, and Teamsters Local 25, which represents 211 warehouse, valet, cage-cashier and call-center workers at the property[3]. Their contracts ran out at the end of Monday, Aug. 31[6]. The jobs involved include housekeepers, cooks, slot attendants, delivery drivers and grounds staff[1].
The two sides disagree most sharply about one thing: whether Encore's workers are already paid well, or are paid behind comparable jobs nearby. The unions want $10 more an hour over three years for workers who do not get tips, and $5 more an hour for tipped workers[2]. Local 26 president Carlos Aramayo says that would bring pay level with other unionized hotels in the Boston area[2]. The unions say Encore has offered less than half that[2]. Encore says the average pay-and-benefits package for its union-represented workers already tops $95,000 a year, against $80,639 for similar jobs across Greater Boston[4]. That comparison is doing a lot of work, and it is the crux — see below.
Money is not the only issue. The unions also want to keep health care and pension benefits, and a job-security rule from the old contract that guarantees a set number of workers get scheduled hours[2][6]. The unions say Encore wants that guarantee out[2]. Wynn says it is "committed to finding common ground that is fair, financially sustainable and protects jobs for the long term," and that "the unions have chosen to initiate a strike despite our continued efforts to reach an agreement through negotiations"[2]. The casino says it stayed open and is still serving guests[2][6].
The backdrop is a business that has stopped growing. Encore Boston Harbor took in $847 million in operating revenue in 2025, according to Wynn's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission[5]. In the second quarter of 2026 it took in $209.3 million, down from $215.7 million a year earlier — a drop of about 3%[6]. Wynn's own filings name competition from casinos in Connecticut and Rhode Island, plus the growth of online sports betting, as the biggest threats to the property[5]. The unions' answer is that the casino still has the money to pay more[5].
The Event
At about 7 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, more than 1,300 workers at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, Massachusetts, began a strike and set up pickets outside the casino[1][2]. The workers are represented by UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25, whose contracts with the Wynn Resorts-owned property expired at the end of Monday, Aug. 31, 2026[3][6]. Teamsters members had voted 97% on Thursday, Aug. 20, to authorize a strike if no deal was reached[3]. Wynn Resorts said the casino remained open and operating, and that it was still willing to negotiate[2][6]. Picketing continued through the weekend[9].
Undisputed Facts
- The contracts covering the two union bargaining units at Encore Boston Harbor expired at the end of Aug. 31, 2026[6].
- Teamsters Local 25 members voted 97% on Aug. 20, 2026, to authorize a strike[3].
- The strike began on the morning of Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, and involves more than 1,300 workers[1][2].
- Teamsters Local 25 represents 211 of the affected workers, in warehouse, horticulture and floral departments, the call center, cage cashier posts, limo driving and dispatch, traffic and valet, and guest experience[3].
- The unions are seeking a $10-per-hour increase over three years for non-tipped workers and $5 per hour for tipped workers[2].
- Wynn Resorts says average pay and benefits for its union-represented Encore workers exceeds $95,000 a year[4].
- Encore Boston Harbor reported $847 million in operating revenue in 2025 in Wynn Resorts' SEC filings[5].
- Encore Boston Harbor's second-quarter 2026 operating revenue was $209.3 million, down from $215.7 million in the second quarter of 2025[6].
- Wynn Resorts has said the casino remains open and operational during the strike[2][6].
The Pressure
Strip away the moralizing and blame. What structural realities persist regardless of which narrative wins?
- Pattern bargaining
- Local 26 is not only bargaining for Encore. Hotel unions bargain to a regional standard, so whatever number Encore signs becomes the reference point every other Boston hotel employer cites in its next round. That is why Aramayo frames the ask as matching other unionized hotels rather than as a raise[2]. A below-standard settlement at the region's biggest single hospitality employer would cost the local more than this one contract.
- A flat property inside a growing company
- Wynn Resorts as a whole is not in trouble, but Encore Boston Harbor is not growing. Revenue was $847 million in 2025 and second-quarter 2026 revenue fell about 3% year over year[5][6]. Wynn's SEC filings name competition from Connecticut and Rhode Island casinos and the shift of gambling dollars to online sports betting as its main threats[5]. A single flat regional property has strong reasons to hold fixed labor costs down regardless of how the parent company is doing.
- The averages problem
- The dispute turns on a measurement question that neither side has an interest in explaining. Encore's $95,000 figure is average total compensation — base wage plus tips plus the employer's cost for health insurance and pension contributions, across all union-represented jobs[4]. Averages are pulled up by the best-paid classifications, and benefit costs rise on their own as insurance premiums rise, without any worker's take-home pay going up. The unions' figures are hourly base-wage numbers for specific jobs. Both can be accurate and describe different things. No public dataset settles it, because the actual wage schedules are in the contract, and the contract is not public.
- The staffing guarantee is the quiet fight
- The wage numbers get the headlines, but the provision guaranteeing a set number of workers scheduled hours is what changes a casino's cost structure permanently[2][6]. With it, labor is close to a fixed cost. Without it, management can flex headcount down as gambling revenue softens. For a property facing exactly that softening, removing it is worth more over three years than winning the wage fight. For workers, it is the difference between a predictable paycheck and an unpredictable one.
Material realityEncore Boston Harbor is open and running with more than 1,300 of its union workers outside[2][6]. That means managers and non-union staff are covering jobs, or service is thinner than usual, and the property is paying for it either way. The strike began on a Labor Day holiday weekend, among the strongest revenue days of the year. Underneath the dispute, the numbers both sides are arguing about are real: the property took in $847 million in 2025, and second-quarter 2026 revenue fell to $209.3 million from $215.7 million[5][6]. That drop of $6.4 million in a quarter is roughly 3%. It is not a collapse — but it is the wrong direction while labor costs rise, which is the whole of Wynn's case. It is also still a $200-million-a-quarter business, which is the whole of the unions' case. A $28 million sports-betting conversion in 2023 that Encore's own president said would never earn back its cost is a concrete example of the property spending on growth that did not arrive[5]. Whatever gets signed, Encore stays the dominant private employer in Everett and a major source of state gaming tax revenue.
Narrative as a weaponTwo camps are actively shaping this story, and they are aiming at different audiences. The unions are working the local press and their own channels, and they want you to believe the question is fairness at a five-star property that can afford more — hence the picket-line quotes, the comparison to other union hotels, and the Teamsters' unrebutted claim that the company refused to bargain in good faith[1][2][3]. Wynn is working the trade press and the financial audience, and it wants you to believe the question is sustainability — hence the $95,000 average, the Greater Boston comparison, and the 36.8%-versus-1.9% line[4]. Each side's strongest number is chosen precisely because the other side's framing cannot easily absorb it. The unions' $10-an-hour ask says nothing about whether the property's revenue supports it; Wynn's $95,000 average says nothing about what a specific housekeeper takes home. Note also which national outlets are absent: as of Sept. 7, this remained a regional and trade story, with no dedicated coverage found from major national conservative outlets and none from non-Western media. The overseas coverage that exists is British gambling trade press writing for investors, not readers.
How Each Side Sees It
Each major actor’s view — how it frames things, its underlying incentive, and how it’s materially affected. Tap a side to read it.
Frames it asThe unions say the standard is not "is this a good job by Boston averages" but "is this a good job by five-star hotel standards." Aramayo argues the $10-over-three-years ask simply matches what other unionized hotels in the area already pay[2]. Their second argument is about the schedule, not the wage. The old contract guarantees that a set number of workers get scheduled hours — a staffing guarantee. That matters because in hotels and casinos, management can cut labor costs without cutting the hourly rate, simply by scheduling fewer people for fewer shifts. A housekeeper with a high hourly wage and three shifts a week can earn less than one with a lower wage and five. The unions say Encore wants that guarantee removed, which they read as an attempt to win on hours what it did not win on wages[2][6]. Third, they argue the property can afford it: Encore is a roughly $847-million-a-year business and the largest private employer in Everett[5].
WhyLocal 26 is bargaining for a pattern, not just one house. If Encore's contract lands below the union standard at other Boston hotels, that number becomes the ceiling other employers cite in their own talks. Winning parity protects every contract the local holds. Teamsters Local 25 is protecting a small unit of 211 workers inside a much larger property and has an interest in showing that a small unit striking alongside a bigger one carries weight[3].
Impact on themStrikers lose their paychecks immediately and rely on strike funds. Tipped workers lose tips as well as wages, which is why their ask is $5 rather than $10 — a larger share of their income is not in the base rate at all. A long walkout tests whether members can hold out; a short one that wins the staffing guarantee sets the terms for the next three years[1][2].
Frames it asWynn's case is that the workers are already at the top of the local market and the business underneath them is shrinking. It puts average pay and benefits for union-represented workers above $95,000 a year, against $80,639 for comparable Greater Boston positions[4]. It also points to the gap between pay growth and revenue growth: union wages and benefits rose 36.8% over the past four years while revenue grew 1.9%[4]. The company's argument is that this gap cannot keep widening. Its statement stresses a deal that is "fair, financially sustainable and protects jobs for the long term" — the implicit claim being that a contract the property cannot carry ends in fewer jobs, not better ones[2]. Wynn also says it never left the table: "the unions have chosen to initiate a strike despite our continued efforts"[2].
WhyWynn is a publicly traded company with its most profitable operations in Macau and Las Vegas. Encore Boston Harbor is a single regional property facing casinos in Connecticut and Rhode Island and losing gambling dollars to online sports betting[5]. Holding down fixed labor cost at a flat-to-declining property protects segment margins and preserves flexibility if the company ever revisits a sale — Wynn and MGM have discussed one before.
Impact on themThe casino says it is open, which means paying for replacement staffing, managers working floor jobs, or reduced service. A strike over a holiday weekend hits the highest-revenue days. Against a quarter that already fell about 3% year over year, more lost revenue makes the affordability argument sharper for Wynn and also more costly to keep making[6].
Frames it asThe state licensed this casino and takes a cut of what it makes, so it has a direct stake in the property staying open and profitable. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is the licensing and oversight body for Encore, MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park. Its mandate covers the license, not the contract — it does not bargain wages. Everett has a separate interest: Encore is the city's dominant private employer and taxpayer. Governor Maura Healey has intervened publicly in other 2026 Massachusetts labor disputes, including the Mass General Brigham nurses' strike and a Republic Services trash strike, which sets a precedent unions may invoke here.
WhyState officials want the tax revenue and the jobs, and want neither a long shutdown nor a reputation for squeezing labor. That pushes them toward pressing for a settlement rather than taking a side.
Impact on themGaming tax receipts from Encore fall with any drop in play during the strike. If the walkout drags, pressure grows on elected officials to appear at the picket line or convene the parties.
Frames it asFor guests, the question is practical: is the hotel clean, are the restaurants open, and is crossing a picket line something they want to do. For other unions, this is a test case. The 2026 Massachusetts calendar has already included nurses and sanitation strikes. Labor's argument is that a win at a marquee five-star property raises the floor across the region's hospitality workforce.
WhyOther locals want a visible win to strengthen their own bargaining. Business groups want the opposite signal — that a company can hold a line on cost even under a high-profile walkout.
Impact on themGuests may see reduced service or choose to stay away; the casino says it remains operational[2][6]. Nearby restaurants and vendors that depend on casino traffic absorb any drop in visitors.
Like this article?
The Bias Ledger average rating 4.3
The same story, as framed by outlets across the spectrum, ordered least to most biased. The bias score (1 = straight, 10 = heavily spun) is an AI assessment of that framing — click an outlet to see its track record. The tell is the word choice or omission that reveals the angle.
| Outlet | Vantage | Bias | How they frame it | The tell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBC Boston | U.S. center, local broadcast | 2 | "Encore Boston Harbor strike continues as workers keep picketing" | Straight event reporting with a duration frame. Broadcast brevity is the limitation: neither side's numbers get enough room for a viewer to weigh them, so the story reads as a standoff with no substance behind either position. |
| GBH | U.S. center-left, public radio | 3 | "Encore Boston Harbor casino workers go on strike as contract negotiations stall" | The headline itself is neutral and states the event. The body carries both the unions' wage figures and Wynn's full statement. The omission is financial: Encore's declining revenue barely appears, so the company's affordability argument is asserted rather than evidenced. |
| iGaming Business | UK-based gambling-industry trade press, investor-facing | 3 | "Encore Boston Harbor workers strike after labour talks break down" | Treats the strike mainly as an operator risk event, reporting demands and the revenue drop side by side. It includes one pointed on-record quote from a Teamsters Local 25 official but no rank-and-file worker voices and no picket-line detail — the labor side gets a line, not lived color, while financial exposure gets the sustained attention. Neutral in tone overall. |
| The Boston Globe | U.S. center-left, Boston metro | 4 | "'We're here to win.' Roughly 1,300 workers at Encore Boston Harbor launch strike at casino." | Leads with a picketer's rallying quote, which sets an underdog frame before any facts. But the Globe is the only outlet that also reported the business-pressure side in depth, in a separate Aug. 27 piece on competition and flat growth — so the paper's overall coverage is more balanced than this one headline. |
| Casino.org | U.S. gaming-industry trade press, operator-facing | 6 | "Encore Boston Workers Threaten Strike as Wynn Counters with $95K Average Pay Defense" | The mirror image of the local press: the company's number is in the headline and frames the whole piece. It reports the $95,000 average and the 36.8%-versus-1.9% comparison without noting that an average including benefits and tips is not a wage, and can be pulled up by higher-paid classifications. It does include some direct union-worker quotes, but the company's framing and figures still set the piece's structure. |
| International Brotherhood of Teamsters | U.S. labor union — a party to the dispute, not a news outlet | 8 | "Casino Teamsters Launch Strike at Encore Boston Harbor" | States as fact that the company "refused to bargain in good faith" — a legal characterization, and a contested one, presented in the union's own voice with no company response. Useful as a primary source for the union's position and for the 97% vote; not a neutral account. |
References
- 'We're here to win.' Roughly 1,300 workers at Encore Boston Harbor launch strike at casino. — The Boston Globe · U.S. center-left metropolitan daily, privately owned by John and Linda Henry
- Encore Boston Harbor casino workers go on strike as contract negotiations stall — GBH · U.S. public broadcaster, Boston; foundation- and member-funded, editorially center-left
- Casino Teamsters Launch Strike at Encore Boston Harbor — International Brotherhood of Teamsters · U.S. labor union press release — a direct party to the dispute
- Encore Boston Workers Threaten Strike as Wynn Counters with $95K Average Pay Defense — Casino.org · U.S. commercial gambling-industry trade site, affiliate-revenue funded, operator-facing
- Contract talks stall as Encore casino faces competition, stagnant growth — The Boston Globe · U.S. center-left metropolitan daily; this piece draws on Wynn Resorts' SEC filings
- Encore Boston Harbor workers strike after labour talks break down — iGaming Business · UK-based gambling-industry trade publication, investor- and operator-facing
- As contract talks stall, 1,300 workers at Encore vote to authorize September strike — The Boston Globe · U.S. center-left metropolitan daily
- Encore Boston Harbor workers say they'll launch strike on Friday — The Boston Globe · U.S. center-left metropolitan daily
- Encore Boston Harbor strike continues as workers keep picketing — NBC Boston · U.S. center, NBCUniversal-owned local broadcast station
- Massachusetts: Workers at Encore Boston Harbor go on strike — CDC Gaming · U.S. gaming-industry trade news service, industry-funded