Atlantic City Casino Workers May Strike: Over 6,000 Employees Could Walk out of Work

AlterNet
and
Michael Arria
June 16, 2016Labor

More than 6,000 casino workers could walk off the job during Atlantic City's busiest holiday weekend of the year. Employees at Caesars, Bally’s, Harrah’s, Tropicana and the Trump Taj Mahal are reporting widespread support for a strike on July 1st. The Atlantic City employees have been working under an expired contract since September of 2014.

Despite a 40 percent profit growth for the gaming industry in 2015, workers each still make less than $25,000 a year. A press release from UNITE HERE, the union that represents almost 10,000 casino workers, quotesRodney Mills, a 42-year-old beverage server at Tropicana who makes less than $11 an hour despite having worked at the casino for 24 years:

“I work full-time but I’m still struggling to make ends meet. When the casinos were in trouble, I did my part—sacrificing wages and benefits to help the company. But now that the casino is doing well again they’ve forgotten my sacrifice. My family shouldn’t have to stress about whether I’ll be able to pay the rent.”

Trump Taj Mahal is owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a staunch supporter of the GOP presidential candidate whose name defines his resort. Trump has said that, if elected, he would nominate Icahn for Treasury Secretary.

During the last strike, which occurred in 2004, the casinos hired temporary workers.

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