El vocalista de The Killers, Brandon Flowers, salió a defender a los trabajadores de hoteles, específicamente a aquellos encargados de estacionar los automóviles, de su ciudad natal de Las Vegas.
El músico está pidiendo por sueldos más altos y mejor tratamiento para aquellos que se dedican a estacionar los autos de los turistas en los numerosos hoteles de la ciudad del pecado. Incluso reveló que su sueño de niño era ser valet parker (estacionador de autos) en cualquiera de los hoteles de esa ciudad.
Fue a través de una carta abierta en el The Las Vegas Review-Journal, donde Flowers habló de esto. “Aunque suene loco, mi sueño de niño era ser un valet parker. Para un chico trabajador de Las Vegas que era muy activo para un puesto de escritorio, estacionar autos era lo mío. No era sólo acerca de estacionar autos, sino acerca de ser la primera cara que tú veías cuando llegabas al hotel, el tipo que sabía quién llegaba y salía de la ciudad”, relata en una parte de la carta.
“Ahora el oficio de estacionador de autos está sufriendo grandes cambios. Hoteles están comenzando a cobrar por estacionarse y por usar a los estacionadores, pero no están subiendo los sueldos de la gente”, continúa el vocalista, para luego agregar que “como han comenzado a cobrar algo que antes era gratis, mucha gente ya no les deja propina a los estacionadores”.
“Estoy triste porque esta es mi gente”, dice casi al final Flowers.
Revisa la carta completa a continuación:
As crazy as it sounds, my childhood dream was to be a valet parker. For a hard-working Vegas kid too restless for a desk job, valet was it. It wasn’t just about parking cars, it was about being the first face you see when you arrive at the hotel — the hookup who knew the ins and outs of the town.
My family has a long history of working in Vegas. I had one grandmother at the Golden Nugget and another at the Stardust. I had aunts at Harrah’s, uncles at Bellagio and the Showboat, cousins at the Luxor and Orleans, my old man at Treasure Island. I had jobs at the Gold Coast, Aladdin and Caesars. Wages and tips are important to every worker in town, and they used to be enough to support a Vegas family.
Now the valet profession is undergoing a big change. Hotels are starting to charge for self and valet parking, but they are not raising the valet salaries. It’s hard to explain how sacrilegious paid parking feels in a city known for sin, but I believe that the consequences of this are very real to a large group of people.
When you have to pay $13 or $17 to park with valet, people will start avoiding it. If they do cough up the high fees for what used to be a free service, people will be much less inclined to give a good tip. In some places, when you want to leave a tip and pay with a credit card, there isn’t even a tip line! I can walk into just about any fast food restaurant, order at the counter, throw my own trash away when I’m done eating, and still that receipt has a line on it to leave a tip.
I’m upset because these are my people. These are the people that keep Vegas moving and they don’t deserve to take this kind of hit. Valet parkers have long days, running back and forth, trying to provide good service and taking care of your car. This isn’t right. This isn’t Vegas. This needs to change.
I am not a journalist. but the recent and impending changes to valet parking on the Strip have compelled me to speak up. Please join me in showing support for these hard working professionals by remembering to tip, and writing the resort operators to complain and push for what is right.