But, he said, “I would say this is as close as we’ve come in a long time to an actual strike.” “As soon as one company reaches a deal, the others just fall right in line,” said Bill Werner, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, whose research includes hospitality law and labor relations. But the union's tentative agreement with Caesars appeared to be providing the momentum needed for the union to win new contracts for all 35,000 of its members who have been working under expired contracts at 18 hotel-casinos.