New Jersey’s chapter of the AFL-CIO says it will fully support a possible strike by Atlantic City’s main casino union against five city casinos which has been approved for July 1, right at the start of the busy July 4th holiday weekend.
The city’s main casino workers union—Unite Here of Local 54 which represents about 6,000 workers at the properties—voted to authorize a strike at Caesars Entertainment’s three city casinos and Tropicana Atlantic City last week if a new labor agreement isn’t reached by July. An earlier vote authorizes a strike at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, which is owned by Tropicana Entertainment and billionaire Carl Icahn.
The vote means that negotiating teams for the union can call strikes at any of the five properties if negotiations break down at any time, but the union has made it clear it is holding to a July 1 deadline.
According to the Press of Atlantic City, Charles Wowkanech, president of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, said he is hopeful that negotiations will lead to deals, but the federation will support the city’s workers.
“I’ve got to believe from the bottom of my heart, knowing some of these executives at Harrah’s, that … within the next few days, we’re going to get a reasonable settlement here,” Wowkanech told reporters while attending the federation’s constitutional convention at Harrah’s Waterfront Conference Center in the resort.
“The real issue is with these billionaire union-busters like Carl Icahn that just come into a place, suck the money out of it, drive down wages, benefits, so that the whole community at large suffers,” he said. “We’re not going to let this guy come into our town, the strongest union town in this state, and take over.”
Ironically, the AFL-CIO convention was the third union convention held in Atlantic City since March, the Press noted.
“The union convention business provides a lot of money here, and if our workers go on strike, we will not come and patronize this town,” said Wowkanech.
Local 54 has also begun a local advertising campaign explaining its reasons for a possible strike. The union wants restoration of a week or more of paid vacation relinquished during contract talks in 2011; a wage increase of $3 per hour, phased in in 60-cent increments over five years; and employer contributions to the union’s health fund sufficient to keep benefits at current levels, according to the Press.
Health benefits were a major sticking point between the union and the Taj Mahal—as well as with Icahn—after the casino was allowed to terminate health befits for employees through a bankruptcy court ruling. The battle between the union and Icahn has been public, with the union staging several rallies and appealing the bankruptcy ruling—which it eventually lost.
Despite a vote to authorize a strike at the casino last year, none has been called up until now.
