A cleaning cart at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, March 13.

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Unite Here — a major national union representing gaming, hotel, airline catering, and hospitality employees — expects up to 90% of its 300,000 members to lose work because of the coronavirus pandemic.



"The large majority of hospitality people in America are just laid off," D. Taylor, the president of Unite Here, told reporters in a call.

“We anticipate 80–90% of our members will not be working,” Taylor said.

Hundreds of thousands of service workers around the country are losing their jobs as states close bars, restaurants, and hotels and large events are canceled.

Restaurant, club, and bar staffers have told BuzzFeed News they are already fearful how they will pay next month's rent after suddenly losing their jobs during a global pandemic. And more losses are expected in the coming days, union leaders said.

The initial deadly outbreak of the coronavirus in the US took place near Seattle. Of the 5,500 union members in Seattle and Portland, 4,000 to 4,500 have been laid off already, around 80% of workers, local Unite Here leader Erik Van Rossum estimated.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced a shutdown of all casinos and hotels — the state's biggest industry — on Tuesday.

“Right now, nobody is working," said Geoconda Argüello-Kline, a Culinary Workers Union leader in Las Vegas. Her union represents 60,000 gaming workers.