The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, which represents workers in New York and New Jersey, has begun running a television and digital ad campaign against a New Jersey referendum to allow new casinos to be built in northern New Jersey.
Union officials told the New York Daily News that they oppose the referendum because the state’s plan does not include a labor peace provision that would stop casino owners from blocking union organizing efforts. New York’s casino law included such a provision.
“Our union has built a strong standard for gaming workers in the tri-state area, and until we have concrete assurances that those standards will be met, we will oppose any efforts to expand gaming into North Jersey,” said union President Peter Ward. “The close to 5,000 hospitality workers we represent in North Jersey, cannot support their families on empty promises, and we will not support any measure that fails to guarantee these critical standards are met.”
The union has made an initial six-figure television buy for the ads, but told the paper that it will likely top seven figures by November. The ads criticize New Jersey politicians for bailing out Donald Trump’s former Atlantic City casinos and that Trenton can’t be trusted. The ads also say the proposal would allow for casinos in northern New Jersey “without giving communities the ability to say ‘no.’
Also running ads against the referendum is Genting, which runs a virtual casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. The Daily News reports that the company has helped fund Trenton’s Bad Bet, a recently formed group that has also launched a campaign against the referendum.
Genting said it opposes the expansion into North Jersey “because we believe it would hurt New Jersey families and businesses as well as put thousands of jobs at risk in New York and elsewhere,” said company spokesman Michael Levoff. “We undertake many different efforts on a host of issues that impact our industry as a whole, and our partnerships with state governments who rely on the jobs we create and the revenue we generate.”
Proponents of casino expansions have also been funding ads in favor of the referendum, saying new casinos will help keep the state’s casino industry competitive with other states and provide redevelopment funds for Atlantic City.
Jeff Gural, the owner of the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey—a leading contender for a new casino—has been supporting ads in favor of the plan put out by the group Our Turn NJ, the paper reported. Developer Paul Fireman, who has proposed a major project in Jersey City is also help fund ads in favor of the referendum.
Their ads point out that New Jersey once collected more than $400 million in revenue from its 8 percent tax on gross-casino revenue, but that number has now been cut in half as competition from the out-of-state casinos has increased.
The commercial says that the state could recover those losses by allowing the two north Jersey casinos to open. The ad says state-funded programs for seniors like Meals-on-Wheels and Senior Freeze property tax relief would benefit.
Gural told the paper that it’s not surprising the opposition to the referendum is being led by interests in New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere who stand to be hurt by the competition, but was surprised that the Hotel and Motel Trades Council was among those fighting against the expansion.
“We would certainly hire more people in New Jersey than they would lose jobs,” Gural said. “If we get our message out, we should win easily,” he said.
Also supporting the expansion plan is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who again last week said he would sign a law to allow the new casino construction. Speaking at a press conference, Christie said he plans to campaign for the measure.
Earlier, Christie had threatened to pull his support for the referendum if the state did not adopt a financial rescue plan that met his preferences to help financially strapped Atlantic City avoid bankruptcy. The state legislature has passed that plan, however, and Christie said he now intends to cast his own ballot for the casino expansion.
Also, New York State Senator John Bonacic, speaking in a television interview, said New York may move to allow casinos near New York City sooner than expected if the New Jersey referendum passes.
“I don’t know how that referendum is going. I hear through the grapevine that the polling is negative on the referendum,” Bonacic, who serves as Chairman for the New York Senate Racing, Gaming And Wagering Committee, told the show “Capital Tonight.” “I have to see how it plays out. Assume the referendum passed in Jersey, I think you could see a fast-forward of the three licenses in New York City. New York is not going to let New Jersey eat our lunch when it comes to revenue from casinos.”
Two recent polls have shown New Jersey residents oppose the referendum while a third found voters evenly divided.
