Donna DeCaprio made history when she was recently elected president of Local 54 of the Unite Here union, which represents nearly 10,000 Atlantic City casino employees. She then quickly made news when she called a proposed smoking ban in the city’s casinos “a suicide pact.”
Women make up 60 percent of the membership, whether it be cleaning rooms, serving drinks or tending to public areas of the casino. DeCaprio told the Associated Press that she believes women can be just as equal or better than men.
“This is extremely hard work that they do,” said DeCaprio, who started her career in the casino industry making sure the bar was properly stocked and cleaned at the TropWorld casino in 1987. “I find that women generally take a more collaborative approach to issues. I would like to build more alliances with other unions and build some bridges.”
Established in 1929, the union was initially formed to represent workers in the hospitality and gaming industry. Over the years, Local 54 has played a pivotal role in negotiating fair wages, benefits and working conditions for its members.
The union has also been instrumental in advocating for the rights of workers and ensuring their voices are heard at the bargaining table. With a strong foundation built on decades of hard work and dedication, Local 54 has become a force to be reckoned with in the labor movement.
DeCaprio was at the forefront when the union negotiated its last contract. Working as the secretary-treasurer for the last 19 years, she took over for then-president Bob McDevitt, who was unable to lead the union’s contract talks with representatives of the nine casinos because of an illness. She was credited with getting a new contract without having to call a strike.
The biggest challenge now facing DeCaprio is whether New Jersey should ban smoking in the casinos. Currently portions of the casino floor allow smoking, but a group of casino workers want a full ban.
She, like her predecessor, McDevitt, is against a full ban.
“We support and defend a worker’s right to work in a safe environment,” DeCaprio said. But a total smoking ban “would eliminate thousands of lucrative jobs and probably lead to the closure of one casino.”
A group calling itself Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) criticized DeCaprio for her stance.
“Seriously, ‘a suicide pact?’ indoor smoking is slowly killing us every day. Between Donna DeCaprio’s insulting description of critical legislation to close the casino smoking loophole, her parroting of long-ago debunked industry talking points on ventilation systems, and her false suggestion of a compromise which is nothing but the status quo, it’s clear that the new Local 54 president is very much unaware of the circumstances we deal with at our workplaces every day. Just like her predecessor, DeCaprio is carrying the water of casino executives and Big Tobacco, spewing false statements that are anti-worker,” the statement read.
DeCaprio has yet to respond to CEASE but has said she seeks to keep the current 25 percent rule of allowing smoking on casino floors.
