A.C. casino union threatens strike over labor pact

The contract expires Wednesday. The top issue is low-wage workers with no benefits. A walkout could be crippling.

By Suzette Parmley

Inquirer Staff Writer

ATLANTIC CITY - The union representing this city's hotel and restaurant workers voted overwhelmingly last night to walk out on their jobs any time after midnight Wednesday, when their contract expires.

By a vote of 8,020 to 108, members of Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, authorized a strike next week - potentially crippling this city's casino industry just days before the nationally televised Miss America pageant.

The union, which represents about 14,500 members, and casino operators are at odds over four issues: subcontracting, health benefits, "successorship rights" that maintain contract provisions after a property is sold, and length of contract. But the issue that has inflamed and unified the union is the hiring of low-wage workers with no benefits, called subcontractors. Many are seasonal workers.

Yesterday's strike vote, held in two sessions at the Atlantic City Convention Center, was to authorize a walkout, said Chris Magoulas, spokesman for Local 54. By 8 p.m., the union had tallied the votes.

"I think this sends an extraordinary message to the gaming industry," Magoulas said. "That workers in Atlantic City want to be part of this industry's future, and they're ready to fight to protect their health care and to prevent low-wage, low-benefit jobs from coming to this town."

Jerrold E. Glassman, the labor attorney for Tropicana Casino & Resort and Resorts Atlantic City casino operators, said negotiations were continuing.

"The casinos are one of the biggest employers in South Jersey," Glassman said. "At this point, we're negotiating wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment.

"My clients do have contingency plans; they always do," Glassman said. "We're in the hospitality business. We can't just shut down."

Union members contend that the casinos have an obligation to provide good jobs with benefits to sustain a middle class, which was the purpose of establishing a gambling industry in the city more than 25 years ago.

Local 54 wants a contract that mirrors the one signed last year by the year-old Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which brought subcontractors into the union and gave them full pay and benefits.

Carla Corr, 43, a banquet server at the Tropicana for 16 years, said subcontracting threatened the livelihoods of thousands of workers like her.

"It's a citywide issue of subcontracting - the trend that we're concerned about," she said. "It threatens the wages, health benefits, and the middle-class livelihood of the whole Atlantic City community."

Under the current contract, casino employers pay for all health benefits - which Local 54 wants left intact. In a new contract, the casinos want employees to start paying a portion of health benefits through a payroll deduction.

Gary Thompson, spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which owns Harrah's and Showboat casinos in Atlantic City, said: "We are optimistic we will reach an agreement with the union, but also have in place contingency plans in the event that a settlement doesn't occur, to keep us open and operating."

Thompson declined to give specifics of the contingency plans, but Harrah's, whose headquarters is in Las Vegas, is a major player in the labor negotiations.

Harrah's and Caesars Entertainment Inc. announced a merger agreement in July under which Harrah's would acquire all of Caesars properties, including three casino hotels in Atlantic City - making it the city's largest casino operator.

Local 54 wants the employees and labor contract of a property to continue with a new owner, so-called successorship rights. Casino operators want the right after a purchase to maintain or eliminate employees as they deem appropriate.

The two sides also differ on length of the new contract. Local 54 wants a three-year contract to coincide with similar contracts in Las Vegas, Chicago and Detroit. Atlantic City casino operators want a five-year contract, like the one that expires Wednesday.