NEWS
17 June 2016
Employees of four Atlantic City casinos vote for strike action
By Tom Lewis
ers at four Atlantic City casinos have voted to go on strike, should they fail to receive what they consider to a fair contract before 1 July.

Several thousand members of Local 54 of the Unite-Here union cast ballots on Thursday, with 96% voting to authorise the strike.

The action will affect five casinos, including Tropicana and Caesars Entertainment’s three properties in the city: Bally’s, Harrah’s and Caesars.

The union authorised a strike against the Trump Taj Mahal last year, and the casino is also facing a walkout come 1 July.

The strike is timed to target the 4 July holiday weekend.

The workers’ primary complaint centres on the feeling that they are not seeing any of the benefits as Atlantic City begins to regain its financial footing, with all eight casinos in operating profit for Q1 2016.

Local 54 President Bob McDevitt described the current contract offers as “an insult”, and said: “They need to offer these workers a fair contract.

“We gave up a lot when times were bad, now they are making money, they need to give it back to us.”

Borgata, Golden Nugget and Resorts – the remaining Atlantic City casinos – have been given an indefinite extension, the union stating that talks with the three have been making progress.