Hundreds of hospitality workers at a casino near the Las Vegas Strip walked off the job just before dawn Friday amid a long and highly contentious fight for a new contract. The work stoppage at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas marks the first open-ended strike in 22 years for the Culinary Workers Union,

The strike comes a year after casinos up and down the Strip narrowly avoided tens of thousands of hospitality workers walking off the job on the weekend the city was set to host its first Formula One

The work stoppage launched Friday at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas is the first open-ended strike in 22 years for the Culinary Workers Union, the largest labor union in Nevada, with about 60,000 members. Union members were on the picket line again on Saturday.