Las Vegas - A Nevada union says a deal between casinos and the Internal Revenue Service to reduce reporting requirements for tip income doesn't go far enough for casino workers given a bad economy. The Culinary Union, representing roughly 60,000 service workers, says tips are down 50 percent as visitors spend less time and money in Las Vegas, making workers unhappy with IRS withholding requirements.

Las Vegas (AP) - Hotel and casino workers have moved a step closer to walking out on the picket line at several Las Vegas resorts. In two meetings Wednesday, members of the Culinary Workers and Bartenders Unions voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike at the 14 casinos and two industrial laundries with which the union is negotiating new contracts. The move allows a negotiating committee to call for a strike, or other action, if contract settlements aren't reached.

Unions representing about 1,200 workers at the Stratosphere hotel-casino reached a tentative labor contract with management over the weekend and plan to hold a vote on the deal Saturday. The agreement involving Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 is the latest in a series of contract agreements reached with Las Vegas Strip employers in the last several months.

Las Vegas (AP) -- The union representing thousands of hotel and restaurant workers in Nevada has reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract with its largest employer, the union and MGM Mirage said. The deal between the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and MGM Mirage Inc. was reached late Wednesday after a 10-hour bargaining session, Culinary political director Pilar Weiss said. The deal ended a nearly two-month stalemate. The union had approved a strike authorization vote for next month.