Atlantic City’s main casino union—Unite HERE of Local 54—began negotiations for a new union contract with Tropicana Atlantic City and things got off to a bad start as several hundred union workers picketed the casino.
According to the Press of Atlantic City, the union offered a proposal to the Carl Icahn run property, but the casino did not make a counter-proposal or schedule a follow-up meeting.
Icahn has been fighting with the union over health benefits at another property he now controls, namely the Trump Taj Mahal casino. Icahn’s Tropicana Entertainment recently began running the Taj after the property emerged from a long bankruptcy action that saw Icahn take control of the property.
During the proceedings, The Taj Mahal cancelled its health benefits to Taj workers and the union has been battling in court—and picketed the Taj several times—ever since.
As for other properties in the resort, the union’s collective bargaining agreements expired in September 2014, though the terms of most of the contracts have been temporarily extended. The Tropicana session was the first of what’s likely to be several months of negotiations with city casinos, the Press reported.
The union represents bartenders, housemaids and other hospitality workers.
According to the Press, all but one of the expired contracts contain most-favored employer clauses that require Local 54 to offer casinos similar deals when it comes to wages and benefits. The union maintains that any changes made by Tropicana could adversely affect every casino contract it has in the city.
The union also noted in a report titled “Atlantic City Casinos Rebound While Workers Struggle,” that casino profits in the city have been rising since four casinos closed in the resort in 2014.
