Nearly 100 people will receive training in New Jersey’s hospitality industry thanks to a grant recently awarded to the state’s casino workers’ union, The Press of Atlantic City reports.
New Jersey’s inaugural Pre-Apprenticeship in Career Education (PACE) program awarded the amount of $280,000 to UNITE HERE! Local 54, the labor union that represents nearly 10,000 people employed in the state’s casino industry.
Launched by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development early this year, the PACE program provides funding for eligible businesses and organizations to prepare individuals to enter and successfully complete registered apprenticeship programs and to expand their career pathway opportunities. Since its inception in January this year, the PACE program has awarded more than $1.8 million to nine different organizations.
Local 54 will use the recently granted funds to train 96 individuals for careers in the state’s hotels and restaurants. Participants will be trained for chefs, custodians, and housekeepers, among other hospitality jobs.
Presenting the PACE program, the Labor Department’s website site says that it also aims to “eliminate economic barriers commonly associated with an individual’s inability to invest in skills training and work readiness.” The program is considered “a natural complement” to New Jersey’s existing apprenticeship opportunities.
New Jersey’s Casino Workers Union
Local 54 currently represents just under 10,000 employees in the state’s casino industry. Last year, the labor union teamed up with New Jersey’s Labor Department, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, state courts, casino gaming regulators, the industry itself, and the College and Community Fellowship to jointly launch and manage the HireAC! work program that provides training in hospitality careers for individuals with low-level criminal records.
As many as 38 people have completed successfully the program since its launch and have been provided with the opportunity to work in Atlantic City’s casino industry.
Earlier this year, Local 54 reached a unionization contract with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, one of the two most recent entries in the state’s casino gambling market. The property opened doors in late June along with Ocean Casino Resort.
Following the successful closure of negotiations, Local 54 now represents nearly 1,780 people employed at the Hard Rock property. The unionization was supported by 99.6% of the casino resort’s eligible workers.
The contract reached earlier this year brought to an end a long saga that dated years back when the Hard Rock casino resort operated as Trump Taj Mahal and was owned by New York activist investor Carl Icahn.
Mr. Icahn shuttered Trump Taj Mahal in October 2016 after a prolonged workers’ strike and after refusing to negotiate new contracts with the protesting employees and Local 54.
Ocean Casino Resort has, too, been negotiating with Local 54, but the recent change of the property’s ownership has apparently delayed the process. Earlier this year, the union’s president, Bob McDevitt called on state gambling regulators to introduce measures to prevent the New Jersey casino industry from greedy Wall Street investors who could unleash a disastrous impact on local casinos in their pursuit of quick profit. Ocean Casino Resort was recently acquired by New York hedge fund Luxor Capital Group.
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