Casino workers vow not to fold without pact
Strike leaves resorts a bit messy for gamblers
Thursday, October 07, 2004
BY JUDY DeHAVEN
Star-Ledger Staff
The plates are paper. There's no one to make the beds. And if you want an expensive dinner at a nice restaurant, you might have to settle for the buffet.

As the strike by 10,000 Atlantic City casino hotel and restaurant employees entered its sixth day yesterday -- the longest walkout in the resort's history -- there seemed to be no end in sight.

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Union members vowed to stay off the job for as long as it takes to get a favorable contract. Casinos brought in temporary workers -- their executives were even seen tending bar and cleaning toilets -- and they said they would cater to customers without union workers.

And the gamblers? They had to make due with less.

"The bathrooms aren't very clean," Leona Martinozzi said yesterday as she and her husband, Fiore, took a break from the action at Showboat to take a stroll on the Boardwalk.

"And you have to make your own bed," Fiore Martinozzi said. "But the food last night was fabulous."

The mixed reviews by gamblers mirrored the differing viewpoints offered by Local 54 of UNITE HERE and the seven casinos it is striking. Casinos said only one issue remained; the union said there were several. Casinos said business was going on as usual; the union said their strike shut down restaurants and hotel towers. Casinos said the local was being played by the leadership in Las Vegas; the union said it was working for its members.

In recent days, the rhetoric has turned more rancorous, with each side accusing the other of spreading misinformation in ads in local newspapers.

"They said they can't afford wage increases, and yet they're paying money for these full-page ads," said Terry Owens, a cocktail waitress who was picketing outside of Caesars yesterday. "They don't want to talk, but we're willing."

Last Friday, Local 54 went out on strike against Resorts, Tropicana, three casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment -- Bally's, Caesars and Hilton -- and two owned by Harrah's Entertainment casinos, Harrah's and Showboat. Just before the strike deadline, the union reached an agreement with the three Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts casinos, and the Sands agreed to the same deal. Borgata has a separate four-year contract with Local 54 that it struck last year when the casino opened.

The main sticking point appears to be the length of the contract. The union wants a three-year deal so the contract will expire at the same time as its sister chapters in Las Vegas and Detroit, giving them more power at the bargaining table. The casinos -- especially Harrah's and Caesars, which earlier this year reached a $9.4 billion agreement to merge -- do not want to have to face future strikes in multiple places at once.

"It's down to the final component -- the length of the agreement," Harrah's spokeswoman Susan Kotzen said. "We've provided everything they've asked for and that's what we're down to."

Audrey Oswell, president of Resorts casino, said the union is pushing the three-year term because that is what the leadership in Las Vegas wants.

A three-year contract "is not important to the individual member," she said. "It's important to the leadership."

But Chris Magoulas of Local 54 said the length of the contract is not the only issue remaining. Others -- such as health benefits and wages -- still have to be resolved.

"They (the other casinos) have not made the offer that the Trump properties made and we accepted, the offer that guarantees benefits and wage increases, prevents low- wage jobs from overtaking Atlantic City, and gives us a three-year contract," Magoulas said.

Casino officials said some striking workers have begun to return to work, though the union insists less than 1 percent of its membership have crossed picket lines.

While both sides tried yesterday to put their best spin on the situation, there were signs the strike was taking a toll. Some union members privately wondered how long they could afford to stay off the job, while many said they were committed for the long haul. And while casinos downplayed the effect on business, they seemed to have fewer gamblers yesterday compared with those casinos that have signed contracts with Local 54.

Eric Hausler, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial Group, expects the strike will affect earnings. The full impact cannot be gauged until casinos report revenue figures to the Casino Control Commission later this month.

So far, Wall Street "has completely shrugged off" the strike, Hausler said. But if it drags on, investors will take notice.

"Is it going to have an impact on the fourth quarter?" Hausler asked. "Absolutely. I think it cascades the longer it goes on."

Still, he said, if the casinos get a good deal, the short-term impact of the strike will be better than a long-term contract with terms that are unfavorable to the casinos.