Unionism and poverty-level wages in the service sector: the case of Nevada's hotel-casino industry

A significant union presence in Las Vegas's hotel-casino industry juxtaposed to the near absence of union representation in Reno provides a unique setting to assess the impact of unions on the incidence poverty-level wages among workers in a highprofile, expanding service sector industry. Results of the analysis show a significantly higher incidence of poverty-level wages among hotel-casino workers in Reno compared to workers in the identical occupations in Las Vegas.