LVCVA union employees up for 4% pay raise, $2,250 bonuses

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s 240 union employees will be in-line for a 4% pay increase and a lump-sum bonus of $2,250 per worker in July if a compensation committee recommendation is approved at Tuesday’s LVCVA board meeting.

The five-member committee on Monday unanimously recommended modifying the LVCVA’s collective bargaining agreement with the Service Employees International Union Local 1107. A public hearing is scheduled at Tuesday’s full board meeting after which the board is expected to consider contract modifications that would cost $19.3 million including additional retirement and Medicare benefits expenses.

The contract modification is an amendment to a five-year agreement signed by the convention authority and the union effective July 1, 2018. Under terms of the contract, employees received 2.8% across-the-board pay increases in both the second and third years of the agreement. There were no increases in the fourth year, and the fifth year was subject to renegotiation. A new five-year agreement is expected to be developed next year.

“We believe it to be the right thing to do in this environment,” Chief Financial Officer Ed Finger said of the proposed contract modification.

In addition to establishing the procedure for employee compensation, committee members agreed to recommend philosophies for how the LVCVA’s two top executives — President and CEO Steve Hill and General Counsel Caroline Bateman — would be considered for raises. The committee and the LVCVA board are expected to review those terms and conduct performance evaluations in July.

Under philosophies the committee unanimously approved Monday, operations and administrative positions will be compared with destination marketing organization and local public sector benchmarks. The convention authority will compare salary ranges and bonus packages with marketing organizations in Orlando, Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Denver. The board also will rely on data from the Transparent Nevada website listing salaries of top government organizations across the state.

There is a big difference between the LVCVA’s operations and those of other cities — Las Vegas is the only marketing organization that also has the responsibility of managing and overseeing a major public convention center.

Based on research from those sources, the LVCVA is looking at salary ranges of $378,000 to $529,000 and a bonus of between 0 percent and 40 percent for the CEO; salary ranges of $259,000 to $363,000 and a bonus of between 0 percent and 30 percent for the chief marketing officer and the chief sales officer; salary ranges of $187,000 to $262,000 and a bonus of between 0 percent and 20 percent for the chief financial officer, chief operating officer and general counsel; and salary ranges of $159,000 to $223,000 and a bonus of between 0 percent and 20 percent for the senior vice president of communications.

The last time the organization’s top executives received a raise was in 2019.

The committee also recommended approval of updates to award and recognition policies and parental leave policies for families with new babies or adopted children. The new parental leave policy is in place for employees who do not receive leave time under the Family Medical Leave Act.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.