海角大神

Jessica Mendoza: This is Mariza Rocha.

[Ambient from The STRAT Casino and Hotel]

Mendoza: She鈥檚 a utility porter at The STRAT Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.听

Samantha Laine Perfas: Rocha is 40 years old. And she鈥檚 worked at the STRAT for seven years. During that time, she built a life for herself: putting in her hours, volunteering with her union, buying a home.听

Mendoza: And then on March 18, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic did something no one expected: It forced Las Vegas casinos to close their doors . The STRAT was no exception.

[Music]

Laine Perfas: In January 2020, worked in the hotels and casinos along the Strip. When those places shut down, the whole state was affected. By April that year, 鈥� the worst of any state in the U.S.听

Mendoza: Of course, a lot has changed since then. . Tourists are in; mask restrictions are out. And some casino companies .听

Laine Perfas: But recovery isn鈥檛 happening at the same pace for everyone. Many workers like Rocha are still getting back on their feet 鈥� financially and personally.听

Mendoza: So we asked her: How did she get through the past year? Where is she finding support, comfort, community? And what does her experience tell us about how society can do better?聽

[Theme music]

Laine Perfas: I鈥檓 Samantha Laine Perfas.听

Mendoza: And I鈥檓 Jessica Mendoza.

Laine Perfas: We鈥檙e reporters with 海角大神. This is 鈥淪tronger.鈥�

Mendoza: We hear from six women about what they鈥檝e lost to this pandemic 鈥� and how they鈥檙e winning it back.听

[Theme music]

Laine Perfas: Today鈥檚 episode: The Service Worker.

[Music]

Mendoza: One thing we heard from almost everyone we talked to in this series: They love living in Las Vegas.听

Laine Perfas: Rocha, for example. She鈥檚 bounced around a lot 鈥撀�

Mendoza: 鈥� though she鈥檚 originally from Durango, Mexico.

Laine Perfas: It鈥檚 more than just the weather, though. Rocha moved around a lot because she was constantly looking for work that could support her family. For a while, her wife and stepson were in Mexico. And she wanted to make enough to get them here to the States.听

Mendoza: The jobs she picked up were all over the place: aircraft cleaner, cosmetologist. At one point she was working at Subway, the fast food restaurant. Then she started hearing about casino work.

Laine Perfas: In 2006, Rocha joined the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226. It鈥檚 part of the biggest union in Nevada, with over 60,000 members. And although it took a few years for her to take full advantage of it, being with the union eventually became a game-changer for her.听

Mendoza: Rocha used her membership to sign up for certification classes at the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas. The school is a nonprofit affiliated with the union. It provides hospitality, vocational, and even language training for workers like her.听

Laine Perfas: Rocha trained as a GRA, or guest room attendant. That鈥檚 the person who cleans rooms and bathrooms, restocks fridges, and responds to requests or complaints from guests.听

Mendoza: Students would be told:聽

[Music]

Laine Perfas: Rocha landed her first job at The STRAT in 2014, as a GRA. She quickly realized it wasn鈥檛 for her.听聽

Mendoza: So she went back to the Academy, and she got a new certification: As a utility porter. Which honestly, doesn鈥檛 sound that much easier.听聽

[Music]

Laine Perfas: What does she mean by 鈥渂iohazard鈥�?聽

Mendoza: I think like, people throwing up. Among .听

Laine Perfas: Gross.

Mendoza: But Rocha liked the work. For one thing, it gave her a chance to support her coworkers who were GRAs. That was important to her.听

Laine Perfas: And because she had union support, Rocha also felt like it was a stable job. Technically she was considered part-time, but she regularly worked a full week.

Mendoza: That鈥檚 $20.51 an hour, which at 40 hours a week came to about .听

Laine Perfas: Which isn鈥檛 a ton, but the average salary for .

[Music]

Mendoza: By the time she was at The STRAT, her family had moved to the U.S. from Mexico. And it was a union program that helped get them a house 鈥� the same house Rocha lives in today.听

Laine Perfas: Those were pretty good years for Rocha. She and her wife were doing well.听

Mendoza: She had her stepson 鈥撀�

Mendoza: 鈥� and they were raising him to be empathetic as well as independent.听

Laine Perfas: Like the time all three of them worked at a local pizzeria together. 聽聽

Mendoza: The gig didn鈥檛 last long, because Rocha was already working at The STRAT at the time. And it was a lot, working two jobs. But getting that message across to her son was important to Rocha.听

Laine Perfas: So was education 鈥� for the whole family. Rocha used to work with Jose Armando on his homework 鈥�

Laine Perfas: Jose Armando is 18 now. He鈥檚 graduated from high school. And Rocha couldn鈥檛 be prouder.听

[Music]

Mendoza: After the casinos closed in the spring of 2020, Rocha and her family a week in unemployment through the CARES Act, along with the various COVID-19 stimulus checks that Congress made available. At first, the family tried to enjoy the break.听

Laine Perfas: But soon the novelty started to wear thin. Rocha never had to rely on unemployment benefits before 鈥�

Laine Perfas: And as the weeks turned into months, money started to get tight.听

[Music]

Mendoza: What might have been the worst part, though, was that as all this was happening, Rocha鈥檚 marriage ended.听

Laine Perfas: Rocha (understandably) didn鈥檛 want to talk very much about what happened 鈥� at least, not until we met up with her in person. But the divorce meant that her wife and stepson moved out. And Rocha lost her support system at home.听

[Music]

Mendoza: Before all this, the union was already a big part of Rocha鈥檚 life. But as the hits kept coming, Rocha turned to the organization even more.听

Laine Perfas: Some of it was because they helped with resources. The union regularly connected members with state and federal sources of funding.听聽

Mendoza: They also work with the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas to provide food assistance through a program called .听

[Music]

Laine Perfas: And then in July of 2020, after more than three months without work, Rocha finally got a call from The STRAT telling her she could come back in.

Mendoza: We did reach out to The STRAT. We asked about its policies around supporting workers throughout the pandemic. They declined to comment.听聽

Rocha: Now we have a law here in Nevada. It鈥檚 SB4.听

Laine Perfas: Senate Bill 4 requires Nevada employers to for workers who test positive for COVID-19.

Mendoza: It鈥檚 named after Adolfo Fernandez, a utility porter who died from COVID-19.听

The bill , and it removes liability from employers if they follow the safety guidelines. Which led some activists to say the bill didn鈥檛 go far enough.听

Laine Perfas: Still, the union fought heavily for the bill because of the protection it would provide its members, both in terms of financial security and their health.听

Mendoza: The bill didn鈥檛 become law until August 鈥� too late really, to help Rocha. But that whole experience made her feel that her values and priorities really aligned with the union鈥檚.

[Music]

Laine Perfas: To be clear, we鈥檙e not here to judge whether unions are good or bad. It鈥檚 just to say for someone like Rocha, it was life changing to have an organization like the Culinary Workers Union supporting her 鈥� even before the pandemic.

Mendoza: And after everything she went through? Well, it was through the union that she found purpose, community, and a lifeline.听

[Music]

Laine Perfas: Like the other women in this series, Rocha鈥檚 year was beyond rough. But throughout our conversations with her, she was always ready with a thoughtful comment, or a dry joke, or a smile. So we were excited to meet her in person.

Mendoza: After the break: We visit Rocha (and her dog!), and see how she鈥檚 doing.

Laine Perfas: We went to see Rocha in Las Vegas in late April of this year. By then she was more or less back at work. But her hours weren鈥檛 regular yet, so she was still getting food assistance from the union.听

Mendoza: We鈥檙e not sharing her number. But we will share that there was a volunteer booth that was playing very loud party music.听

[Ambient of music at the food pantry pop-up]

Mendoza: They had a box of Krispy Kremes open on their table. And Sam got this close to snatching a couple for her greedy self.

Laine Perfas: Not true! I just thought about it, for like a second.听

Mendoza: If you say so.听

Laine Perfas: I did have us peek into Rocha鈥檚 food box though, to see what she got that day.听

Mendoza: And she did warn you, Sam, there wouldn鈥檛 be any candy in the box. (Clearly Sam has a sweet tooth!)

Mendoza: Each box had just about enough for a family of four for a week. Remember at the start of this episode we said that recovery wasn鈥檛 happening at the same speed for everyone? Throughout the pandemic, something like 1,800 union members a day were going to Helping Hand pop-ups to pick up food for their families.听

Laine Perfas: And it was easy to believe those numbers, judging by the cars we saw lined up that day. The union said that as of June, the program had supplied 350,000 packages of food to laid off and furloughed hospitality workers.听

Mendoza: For these folks 鈥� people like Rocha 鈥� not having to spend on food meant they could use their unemployment funds to pay their mortgage, their bills, and other expenses.听

Laine Perfas: She did say though, that it doesn鈥檛 have everything. She usually goes to the grocery store for dairy, other perishables, stuff like that. Oh, and also tortillas, an essential item!

[Music]

Mendoza: That same day, we sat down with Rocha at her home just a few miles from the park where the food bank was set up.听

Laine Perfas: We showed up bright and early, so we could catch her before work.

Mendoza: Her dog鈥檚 name is Guerro, and he was really cute! He鈥檚 a Maltese-poodle mix with a Pomeranian grandpa. And he had his own doggy house in her living room.听

Mendoza: We got comfortable in her backyard, which has a stone patio table and benches. Rocha was in her STRAT uniform; she鈥檇 gotten a call to come into work later that day. Recently, the STRAT has been calling her in for shifts more regularly.

Laine Perfas: It was great to hear her say that. What with the layoff, and the divorce, and getting sick, it seemed like Rocha deserved at least one good break.听

Mendoza: Thankfully, she鈥檚 had more than one. In the spring, her mom and nephew moved in with her. Along with slowly getting more hours at work, it鈥檚 softened some of the pain of her marriage ending.听

Laine Perfas: Rocha has stayed connected with her stepson, too. He was really understanding of what his parents went through.听

[Music]

Mendoza: But the union is still a constant presence 鈥� and not just as a source of material support. The union has helped Rocha find purpose. Ahead of the 2020 election, Rocha spent some time out of state, campaigning for various Democratic candidates. That was the first time she鈥檇 ever done any kind of political work. And she really valued the sense of empowerment that came with it.听

Mendoza: And lately she鈥檚 been putting in volunteer time as a shop steward, which is essentially a union representative.听

Laine Perfas: The work involves everything from answering members鈥� questions about contracts to acting as a witness when a member is called in by their employer. But for Rocha, ultimately, it鈥檚 about helping other members be aware of their rights as workers聽鈥� and making sure those rights are respected and protected.听

Mendoza: Of all the ways she was helped by the union, Rocha said the best thing was 鈥�

Rocha: Not feeling alone. If you need food, they鈥檙e there. If you need to get a house, they鈥檙e there. If you need an education they鈥檙e there. If you need a lawyer, they鈥檙e there. Health insurance. That鈥檚 something amazing, you know.听聽

[Music]

Mendoza: Sam, something you and I talked about a lot while producing this series is how inspiring it is to be around women who don鈥檛 let bad breaks keep them down. But I think what I really appreciated about Rocha鈥檚 story is that it shows how important it is to also have structures for support 鈥� a community that鈥檚 there for you to lean on, whether that鈥檚 family, friends, coworkers, or something a little more organized. That鈥檚 something a lot of us take for granted. And so, think whatever you like about unions. But to me, the take away is that Rocha feels like that鈥檚 the kind of support she鈥檚 getting 鈥� it鈥檚 her community.听

Laine Perfas: I totally agree. And for Rocha, being involved in the union has also made her realize that she has a voice that she can use. It鈥檚 empowering, not just in her own life, but also in advocating for others, too. Before we left, she mentioned that she wants to invest more time in advocating for the rights of the LGBTQ community. She especially wants to work with young people, who might not have a support system yet. In many ways the union showed her how strong her voice can be 鈥撀燼nd it鈥檚 helped her step into her own sense of power and agency.

[Music]

[Music]

Mendoza: Thanks for listening! Next time on 鈥淪tronger鈥�: we hear from Leslie Stevenson, a social studies teacher in the Clark County school district.听

Laine Perfas: Leslie has been feeling the burnout from teaching for years now. But the pandemic really made her question: should she continue to teach at all?

Laine Perfas: We hope you鈥檒l join us. And if you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us! You can find all our episodes by searching for 鈥淪tronger鈥� on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher. Or visit csmonitor.com/stronger.听聽

Mendoza: This episode was reported and produced by me, Jessica Mendoza.听

Laine Perfas: And me, Samantha Laine Perfas.

Mendoza: Edited by Clay Collins and Trudy Palmer. Sound design by Morgan Anderson and Noel Flatt. Additional audio elements by KNTV Channel 13 Las Vegas and 8 News NOW. Brought to you by 海角大神, copyright 2021.

[Music]

END