ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – It’s been a rough two years for Atlantic City.
This seaside gambling resort has seen a third of its casinos vanish; come close to bankruptcy; and lost tens of millions in tax court to casinos that appealed their assessments. The state wants to take over its finances and decision-making power, and voters are set to decide whether to authorize new casinos near New York City, hurting business in Atlantic City.
Now comes a threatened strike against five of the remaining eight casinos, just as the busiest weekend of the year approaches.
“This is my life,” Mayor Don Guardian said. “Every day I wake up, there’s some new crisis. It’s actually a good day when there’s only one.”
Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union says it will go on strike Friday if it can’t reach new contracts with three casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment (Bally’s, Caesars and Harrah’s) and two casinos owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn (the Tropicana and the Trump Taj Mahal). About 6,500 of the union’s nearly 10,000 workers are at the five hotels. They cook and serve food and drinks to casino guests, carry the luggage and clean the hotel rooms, and provide the very infrastructure of Atlantic City’s hospitality industry.