"There are accidents we can't report because they'll say, 'That's all? Go back to work, and you'll be fine tomorrow. Take two Tylenol and come back tomorrow,'" said Nelda Castro, a Mirage housekeeper.

Moreover, Las Vegas housekeepers clean more rooms than their San Francisco counterparts. "They want more quality, and I don't think it's possible," said Guadalupe Ochoa, a housekeeper at the Luxor.

The Culinary Union commissioned researchers from the University of California - Berkeley and University of Nevada - Las Vegas to study the treatment of housekeepers in the workplace. Among other things, preliminary results show that:    

• On average, Las Vegas housekeepers clean 16.3 rooms or suites per day compared to approximately 13.2 in San Francisco.    

• 66% of Las Vegas housekeepers skipped lunch breaks or took shorter lunch breaks to complete their room assignment. Of these, 58% did so to finish their work on time, and 19% did so to avoid discipline.  

• 78% of housekeepers report having pain or discomfort in the last 12 months that was caused or made worse by their work.  

• 19% of housekeepers who had a work-related injuiry or illness did not report it to the hotel, 23% because they were afraid to do so.