Without new contracts, about 1,000 Atlantic City retail casino workers may vote to authorize a strike on July 19.
Golden Nugget Atlantic City and Resorts Casino Hotel employees announced today that they’ll decide on July 19 whether they’ll walk off of the job. They say they’ll vote in favor of a strike if their union negotiating committee can’t reach an agreement with the casino representatives before then.
The workers from Golden Nugget and Resorts, a Mohegan Sun property, want what 9,000 of their fellow union members already have. Today, 99% of Unite Here Local 54 members working at seven Atlantic City casinos voted in favor of ratifying their new contracts with their employers.
The new contracts apply to the following retail casinos:
- Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel and Casino
- Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa
- Caesars Atlantic City Resort and Casino
- Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City
- Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City
- Ocean Casino Resort
- Tropicana Atlantic City
Today, the union announced:
Around 1,000 workers at Resorts and Golden Nugget casinos remain without new agreements with their employers. The worker negotiating committee plans to present the new agreements to their employers, asking them to accept the terms already agreed to by their competitors. They also called for a Strike Authorization Vote to take place on July 19, if their employers do not agree to the new citywide standard of wages and working conditions.
UPDATE: 07/19/2022 – Workers Authorize Strike
Golden Nugget and Resorts workers will strike on July 30 if their negotiating committee can’t reach an agreement with the casinos.
Local 54 announced at 6:53 p.m. today:
Members from Resorts and Golden Nugget casinos voted 97% “yes” to authorize a strike, if called by the worker negotiating committee. The negotiating committee then set a strike deadline for July 30th if an agreement is not reached with their employers before then. Workers cast ballots at the Union Hall today between 8 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., with the results revealed shortly after the polls closed and ballots were counted.
Local 54 member J. Eger, a Golden Nugget bartender, said in the union press release:
We just want what workers at the other casinos in the city are getting. We’re not asking for any more or any less than that.
What Golden Nugget and Resorts Workers Want
Five of the seven retail casinos were hours away from a work stoppage during the July 4 holiday before they reached tentative agreements with workers. Bally’s and Ocean weren’t under threat, because they’d already agreed with the union to adhere to the negotiated contracts of the other five casinos.
Today, union members voted to ratify those agreements.
Union statements on its site and Facebook quoted Borgata food server Nikki Schwendeman:
I’m so excited about this victory! This is a well-deserved raise for servers in our industry, and it’s going to make our lives so much easier over the next couple of years. Now it’s time to make sure workers at Resorts and Golden Nugget win the same.
According to Unite Here Local 54, “the same” would be:
- “Substantial” wage increases for all classifications, including both tipped and non-tipped employees, retroactive to June 1.
- Maintaining fully funded family healthcare and pensions, including language that protects jobs and increases work opportunities, and new technology protections.
- Improvements to housekeeping workloads
Strikes May Not Impact Online, Retail Gambling
Golden Nugget and Resorts workers considering a strike aren’t dealers or online gambling employees.
They’re housekeepers, bartenders, cocktail servers, cooks, bellmen, doormen, and other service workers.
However, retail casino guests may notice picket signs if the strike happens.
New Jersey online casino gamblers probably won’t notice a change.
Meanwhile, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), the following online gambling operators partner with Golden Nugget:
- Betway
- FanDuel Casino
- Golden Nugget Casino
- Stardust Casino
- PlaySugarHouse Casino
Despite DraftKings acquiring Golden Nugget Online Casino, the Boston-based operator is on the Resorts license.
Also, DGE lists other operators partnering with Resorts:
- ResortsCasino.com
- Barstool Casino
- DraftKings
- FoxBet
- Mohegan Sun Casino
- PokerStars
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