UNITE HERE Local 54 members who are employed at Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal are to walk out at 6 am on Friday, July 1, after they could not agree upon new health insurance and pension benefits contract with the casino’s management.
Last month, it was announced that casino workers have voted in favor of a proposal to go out on strike against five of Atlantic City’s eight surviving casinos. They have threatened that they would walk out during the July 4 holiday weekend, known to be among the busiest times of the year, if no fair contracts were reached.
Once a popular gambling hub, Atlantic City was severely hit by the Great Recession in late 2000s and has experienced a serious downfall in casino revenue over the past several years. In 2011, casino workers gave up a portion of their pension and insurance packages in a bid to help the city’s struggling gambling venues.
Now that Atlantic City has showed first signs of stabilization, employees have been trying to negotiate fairer contracts with their employers. Latest talks took place on Thursday and UNITE HERE Local 54 members struck deals with Bally’s, Harrah’s and Caesars, with all three being owned by Caesars Entertainment, as well as with Tropicana, which is owned by billionaire businessman Carl Icahn.
Last year, Mr. Icahn bought Trump Taj Mahal and has since been in a constant conflict with casino workers denying them any chance for reaching what they consider a fair agreement. The businessman has repeatedly pointed out that he might eventually withdraw his financial support for the struggling casino and have it close down if he was kept being urged and “extorted” to restore the pension and health insurance benefits.
Although employees at the once-popular venue were offered a certain cash stipend to purchase private market health care or to obtain it through the Affordable Care Act, many have commented that the money paid was not even close to what actually cost to acquire health insurance.
Local media reported late on Thursday that the walkout is set to start at 6 am local time on Friday and would involve 1,000 Trump Taj Mahal employees. Mr. Icahn could not be reached for comment at the time first news about the upcoming strike spread.
Union members have not targeted Borgata, Resorts, and Golden Nugget, the other three casinos to be operating in Atlantic City, and these will not be affected by the walkout.
