Employees of Atlantic City’s Revel casino have voted to join the resort’s largest casino workers union, Local 54 of the Unite-HERE. The measure to join the union gained 80 percent of worker’s votes.
All 11 of the city’s casinos are now unionized.
In Revel’s case, however, the move could hurt a possible sale of the struggling casino. The casino has been losing money since it opened in April 2012 and casino officials have said they are considering selling the property or filing for a second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Still, casino officials did not criticize the vote.
“Revel supports our team members’ right to unionize and respects their decision,” Revel president Scott Kreeger told the Associated Press. “Moving forward, we hope to foster a good relationship and work productively with Local 54 as the collective bargaining process begins.”
The union will represent about 1,000 bartenders, cocktail servers, cooks, food servers, bellmen, housekeepers and room service workers, among others at the casino.
“Today is a great day for casino workers,” union president Bob McDevitt told the AP. “We are stronger when we work together, and after today, we look forward to negotiating contracts with all of the Atlantic City casinos.”
The possibility of a sale of the property was seen as a key driving force for the union effort as employees sought protection of their jobs after a possible change in ownership.
The vote also sets the stage for new contract negotiations between all 11 of the city’s casinos and Local 54 in September.
