Warren, Pressley Urge Wynn Resorts CEO to Prioritize Investments in Massachusetts, Negotiate in Good Faith with Striking Encore Casino Workers

Wynn Resorts diverted $1 billion from Encore Boston Harbor Casino deal to new United Arab Emirates casino “At the same time that [Wynn] is refusing to invest in workers at its existing facilities in New England, the company is pouring money into its new ventures” Text of Letter (PDF) Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) wrote to the CEO of Wynn Resorts (Wynn), raising concerns about ongoing union contract negotiations with the workers at Wynn’s Encore Boston Harbor location. The senators urged Wynn to negotiate in good faith and prioritize the livelihood of their employees instead of using its Massachusetts casino as a way to fund expansion into the UAE, a country known for its egregious violation of workers’ rights. In 2014, Wynn promised that the Encore Boston Harbor casino would create more than 3,200 full-time jobs. However, despite signing union contracts with UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 in 2021, the company has not met these goals, and the casino has eliminated over 150 food and beverage jobs in the last three years alone. Wynn workers are also paid less than surrounding full-service hotels. The hotel’s contract with Locals 25 and 26 expired on August 31 of this year. Workers requested a new contract involving pay raises that would align compensation with other high-end hospitality employers. After Wynn did not agree with the proposed terms and was unable to reach a deal, workers went on strike September 4. Since then, Wynn has continued to refuse to negotiate or offer a satisfactory pay raise to union members. On September 14, city officials in Everett, where Encore casino is located, passed a resolution in support of the workers highlighting Wynn’s financial success. “At the same time that it is refusing to invest in workers at its existing facilities in New England, the company is pouring money into its new ventures, including a casino in the United Arab Emirates,” wrote the lawmakers. In 2022, Wynn pulled $1.7 billion in cash from the Encore casino through a sale-leaseback transaction, with a vow to invest a portion of the proceeds into the site. Despite this promise, Wynn is now claiming it is financially infeasible to increase pay for Encore workers—all the while investing over $1 billion into the new casino venture in the UAE. The Encore Boston Harbor casino has been described by Wynn Resorts as a source of liquid cash to fund other ventures. That cash, instead of increasing workers’ wages at the existing facilities in New England, is being used instead in the UAE, where Wynn can avoid legal repercussions for its workers. UAE workers have limited workers’ rights and do not have the explicit right to unionize. “Every worker at Encore has the right to join a union, and you have an obligation to the workers that you promised to employ. We urge you to continue to engage in union negotiations in good faith and to prioritize investment in Massachusetts,” concluded the lawmakers. The lawmakers demanded that Wynn release information about its profits at the Encore Boston Harbor, its stock buybacks and dividends, and its investments at the UAE facility, requesting answers by October 23, 2026. Senator Warren has led the fight to protect American workers under the Trump administration: In September 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) raised their concerns in a letter to Delta Air Lines about reports of union busting activities. The senators urged CEO Ed Bastian to comply with federal law and remain neutral in Delta flight attendants’ campaigning efforts to unionize with the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). In June 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren released a new report titled “10 Ways President Trump Has Hurt American Workers,” detailing how President Trump has broken his promises to workers. In May 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Minority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 12 senators in pressing the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the Commission’s efforts to weaken a rule affirming employment protections for workers undergoing fertility treatments. In March 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned Dan Adcock of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare about Republicans’ plans to raise the retirement age. In February 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Baldwin (D-Ill.), Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Padilla (D-Calif.), and Wyden (D-Ore.) released new data revealing the Trump administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) performed 20% fewer inspections and issued 42% fewer fines for severe workplace violations in 2025—indicating that the Trump Department of Labor may be discouraging inspectors from enforcing workplace safety laws. The lawmakers also launched an investigation into the Department of Labor’s broader plans to eliminate key safety regulations, putting American workers at serious risk. In December 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman DeLauro (D-Conn.) reintroduced the Schedules That Work Act to address unpredictable scheduling practices that may deprive workers of income and require them to work unreasonable hours, like “clopening” shifts that leave little time to commute and rest between shifts. In December 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Schakowsky (D-Ill.) reintroduced the Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act to strengthen protections for part-time workers and allow them to better balance their work schedules with personal and family needs. In November 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Duckworth (D-Ill.), along with Representatives Dingell (D-Mich.) and Simon (D-Calif.), led 56 members of Congress in pressing Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer about the Department of Labor’s dismantling of key disability employment protections. In September 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Sherman (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Nationwide Right to Unionize Act , legislation that would support the right to unionize by invalidating “right-to-work” laws meant to weaken unions’ ability to organize workers. In September 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Aging, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) highlighted how “just-in-time” scheduling practices—which leave workers with last-minute shift assignments and inflexible schedules—have a particularly negative effect on older workers in part-time jobs. In June 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) led members of the Senate Democratic Caucus in writing to the Secretary of the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, urging the department to preserve President Biden’s expansion of the overtime threshold. In March 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senator Booker (D-N.J.), then-Representative Connolly, and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Raskin (D-Md.), led 38 Members of Congress in a letter to President Donald Trump, raising concerns about his unlawful firings of dozens of independent agency heads and inspectors general (IGs) and calling attention to how many of these firings appear to benefit Elon Musk. ###