With a last minute deal between Atlantic City’s main casino workers union and three Caesars Entertainment properties and the Tropicana casino, only the Carl Icahn-owned casino the Trump Taj Mahal faced a July 1 strike deadline, which it failed to meet. Executives at the Taj, which like the Tropicana is owned by investor Carl Icahn, expressed disappointment.
“It is extremely unfortunate that the employees of the Taj Bargaining Committee have decided to strike the Taj despite all of our efforts in these past several months to turn around the Taj, restore employee morale and prepare the Taj for the summer opening,” said Tony Rodio, the president and CEO of Tropicana Entertainment, the manager of the Taj. “The employees of the Taj Bargaining Committee seem hell-bent on trying to close this property and killing the jobs and livelihood of the other Taj employees including their own union members and members of other unions notwithstanding the fact that Taj ownership has presented good faith concrete progressive proposals to restore certain employee benefits including contributions toward employee health care. They are hurting their own and everybody else during the busiest time of the year.”
Alan Riven, the general manager at the Taj, says strike won’t impact guests.
“Despite the labor action, the Taj Mahal remains open for business and is fully functioning,” he says. “We have strike contingency plans in place and are prepared to welcome our guests and continue to provide everyone first class accommodations and entertainment this weekend and throughout the summer. We expect the strike to have minimal impact on our operations. We have recently spent over $15 million to renovate hundreds of hotel rooms, public spaces, reopen our poker room and add new slot product to the casino floor. The place looks great and we have a full slate of entertainment and activities planned for the weekend.”
During its recent bankruptcy, the Taj canceled health benefits for employees, paying them a flat fee to assist them in buying health care on their own. The union is seeking a reinstatement of those benefits.
Bob McDevitt, president of UNITE HERE Local 54, says it’s about the “middle class.”
“We have said from the beginning that it is impossible to revitalize Atlantic City unless the casino industry offers good jobs that let workers support their families. Four other casinos have recognized that simple fact, and it’s a shame that the Trump Taj Mahal can’t get with the program,” said McDevitt.
The last-minute deal was between UNITE HERE Local 54, which represents about 6,500 workers at the five casinos targeted for a strike and Atlantic City’s three Caesars properties—Bally’s, Caesars and Harrah’s casino resorts. A later deal was reached at the Tropicana.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but both sides confirmed an agreement had been reached. Talks remained underway with the Taj Mahal until the walkout.
“We bargained through the night with Caesars, and our negotiating committee has recommended that the membership ratify the tentative agreement,” said McDevitt in a press statement released June 29. “We are glad that Caesars Entertainment recognized the importance of fair wages and benefits to the workers in Atlantic City. I hope that Tropicana and Taj Mahal get the message.”
A deal with Tropicana was then announced June 30, but again, no details were released.
Kevin Ortzman, president of Caesars and Bally’s, said Caesars Entertainment considered it important to reach a deal before the busy July 4th weekend.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Local 54 that keeps our employees at work and allows them to continue to deliver the outstanding service and experience that our guests have come to expect,” he told the Associated Press. “Caesars Entertainment is proud of the investments it has made to contribute to Atlantic City’s revitalization and will continue to help drive the city’s revival.”
Three other city casinos–the Borgata, Golden Nugget and Resorts—were not targeted for a strike by the union because they have existing contracts in place. The union represents about 10,000 workers at the city’s eight casinos. The agreement with the Caesars Entertainment casinos covers about 4,000 union members. The union represents a host of hospitality workers and staff, but does not represent dealers and casino personnel.
During negotiations, union officials have said the union wants to regain concessions it gave the casinos in past negotiations when the city’s casinos were facing stiff competition from out-of-state casinos. The downturn in the city’s casinos forced four properties to close in 2014. However, since then the city’s casino market has stabilized and the city’s eight casinos have reported a 40 percent increase in profits since 2015.
One notable exception, however, is the Taj Mahal, which Icahn acquired after a long bankruptcy proceeding. The Taj has been reporting consistently slumping revenue for nearly two years.
During that proceeding, a bankruptcy judge allowed former owner Trump Entertainment to cancel health and pension benefits for workers at the casino. The union blamed Icahn—who held the majority of debt on the property and was seeking to take it over—and has been fighting with the billionaire ever since, including staging a number of labor protests.
Icahn has said he can’t operate the Taj Mahal without the health insurance concession and had threatened to close the casino if a union appeal of the bankruptcy court action overturned the decision.
The union’s appeal eventually was declined, but union officials have said the health insurance question is a stumbling block in these new negotiations.
McDevitt said at a press conference earlier in the week that because workers at the Trump Taj Mahal lost their health benefits, pensions and work breaks, their demands are more extensive than those of the workers at the other casinos.
“If the Taj Mahal contract ends up not having health care or pensions or a wage increase, that would quickly become the standard for the rest of the industry,” he said.
But he also said the current negotiators at Taj Mahal are “much more professional” than their predecessors under Trump Entertainment, according to the Press of Atlantic City.
The city, meanwhile, is prepared for a potential strike and has assigned extra police to handle picket lines. The union has also trained strike captains to supervise picketers and has planned the precise routes they would walk during a strike, the AP said.
