The picket line outside Encore Boston Harbor has now outlasted seven weeks. On Saturday 24 October 2026, striking workers marked more than 50 days off the job, joined in Everett by union members from across the United States. The resort has stayed open throughout, but the first full month of the walkout cut its gaming revenue to $46.1 million, down 22% on a year earlier, and left Massachusetts with its smallest tax payment from the property in more than five and a half years.
Fact box
- Who: more than 1,300 workers from UNITE HERE Local 26 and Teamsters Local 25 (211 of them Teamsters), against Wynn Resorts.
- What: an open-ended strike over wages, healthcare and job security. The previous contract expired on 31 August 2026.
- How much: September gross gaming revenue of $46.1 million, down 22%. State tax fell to about $11.5 million from $14.8 million in September 2025.
- When: on strike since 4 September 2026. The 50-day mark passed on 24 October.
- Where: Encore Boston Harbor, Everett, Massachusetts, the state's largest casino.
- Key point: the unions want raises of $10 over three years for non-tipped staff and $5 for tipped staff. Wynn says average pay and benefits already exceed $95,000 a year.
Fifty days on the line
The walkout began on 4 September 2026, four days after the contracts covering much of the resort's workforce expired on 31 August. In mid-August, more than 1,000 workers had voted to authorise a strike after months of talks with Wynn Resorts failed to produce a deal. When the deadline passed without an agreement, more than 1,300 employees walked out.
They are represented by two unions. UNITE HERE Local 26, the Boston-area union for hotel, food service and casino workers, covers housekeepers, cooks, servers, bartenders and slot attendants. Teamsters Local 25 represents 211 of the strikers, including limo drivers, dispatchers, valets, cage cashiers, traffic and guest experience attendants, and warehouse, horticulture and call centre staff.
The 50-day milestone on Saturday was turned into a show of strength. Union members from other parts of the country travelled to Everett to join the pickets, and a crowd of supporters gathered outside the resort alongside the striking staff. Pickets have been stationed outside the property around the clock since the strike began. The Teamsters have also pointed to a national Strike Defense Fund of about $365 million as a sign they can support members for a long dispute.
Encore Boston Harbor has not closed its doors. The hotel, casino floor and restaurants remain open. The unions are relying on public pressure instead, asking people not to "book a room, play, or dine at Encore" until a deal is reached.
"We didn't want to strike, but we won't accept a contract that blatantly disrespects our labor. We're on the picket line and will stay out as long as it takes to get a fair deal."
— James Atkins, lead gardener and chief steward, Teamsters Local 25
What the two sides want
The unions are asking for wage increases of $10 over three years for non-tipped employees and $5 for tipped employees. Local 26 president Carlos Aramayo says that would bring Encore's pay in line with other unionised hotels in the Boston area. Better healthcare and stronger job protections are also on the table. The unions note that the resort took in an estimated $847 million in revenue last year. Teamsters Local 25 president Thomas Mari has accused management of slow-walking the negotiations: "When a company refuses to respect the workers who make its profits possible, we shut it down."
Wynn Resorts presents a very different picture. According to the company, average compensation and benefits for union-represented employees already exceed $95,000 a year. It says union wages and benefits have risen 36.8% over the past four years, while the resort's revenue grew only 1.9% in the same period. Encore also cites internal figures showing that 86% of union employees are proud to work there, 83% plan to stay and voluntary turnover is just 3.9%.
"We are committed to finding common ground that is fair, financially sustainable, and protects jobs for the long term. Encore Boston Harbor remains open and operational, and we stand ready to service our guests while we continue negotiations."
— Wynn Resorts statement
The company has also said the unions chose to strike "despite our continued efforts to reach an agreement through negotiations".
September revenue takes the first hit
On 21 October, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) published its revenue figures for September 2026, the first full month of the strike. Encore's gross gaming revenue from slots and table games came to $46.1 million, a drop of just over 22% from September 2025. The state's share fell to just over $11.5 million, compared with $14.8 million a year earlier.
As a Category 1 resort casino, Encore pays 25% of its gross gaming revenue to the Commonwealth. Because the rate is flat, the tax loss mirrors the revenue loss almost exactly: about $3.3 million less for the state in a single month. The tax figures also imply that Encore's September 2025 gaming revenue was close to $59 million.
"The September 2026 revenue was the lowest remitted to the Commonwealth from Encore Boston Harbor in over five and a half years; that's since we were in the height of the pandemic."
— Jordan Maynard, Chair, Massachusetts Gaming Commission
The strike is not the only pressure on the property. Even before the walkout, Encore's numbers were softening. Wynn reported second-quarter 2026 operating revenue of $209.3 million at Encore Boston Harbor, down from $215.7 million a year earlier. Table games hold was 18.1%, at the bottom of the property's expected 18% to 22% range and below the 21.3% of the same quarter in 2025.
A resort with a complicated history
Encore Boston Harbor opened on 23 June 2019 on a former industrial site on the Mystic River, at a total cost of about $2.6 billion. It has 671 hotel rooms and is the only Category 1 resort casino in the Greater Boston region.
Its path to opening was not smooth. In 2019 the MGC fined Wynn Resorts $35 million over how the company handled sexual misconduct allegations against its founder, Steve Wynn, and fined then-CEO Matt Maddox $500,000. The company kept its licence, but Encore has been under close scrutiny ever since.
The financial structure has changed too. In 2022 Wynn completed a $1.7 billion sale-leaseback of the real estate with Realty Income. Wynn still runs the resort but pays roughly $100 million a year in rent. In 2024 it negotiated with the City of Everett over a $400 million expansion of gaming, restaurant and nightclub space across Broadway, a plan it later halted amid a financial dispute with the city. That fixed rent bill does not shrink when revenue falls.
How Massachusetts regulators fit in
The MGC does not negotiate labour contracts and cannot order an end to a strike. But it publishes revenue figures for each property every month, and those numbers now track the cost of the dispute in public. Regulators have said they hope the strike ends soon. The commission has been active in other areas this year too, including a closer look at how sportsbooks use artificial intelligence.
What it means for…
- Wynn Resorts: September revenue was roughly $13 million below last year's level at a property carrying about $100 million in annual rent, after a second quarter that was already down. October will be the first month with the strike running from start to finish, so the November report is likely to be even more telling.
- The workers: more than 1,300 people have now gone over seven weeks without regular pay. The September figures give the unions hard evidence that the strike is hurting the business, while the Teamsters' strike fund helps them hold out.
- Massachusetts: with a flat 25% tax rate, the state lost about $3.3 million from Encore in September alone. Every further month of the strike adds to that gap.
- The wider casino industry: labour costs are under pressure across the sector, from job cuts in the UK and Ireland to the picket line in Everett. Wynn has taken a different approach to staff elsewhere, as when Wynn Macau handed shares to 11,000 employees. The Encore outcome will be watched closely by operators and unions alike.
What happens next
Neither side has announced a deal. The pickets remain in place and the boycott campaign continues. With the October revenue figures due next month and the holiday season approaching, both sides face growing pressure to return to the table. Until they do, Encore Boston Harbor remains a resort open for business with more than 1,300 of its own workers outside, asking guests to stay away.
