[toc]As the Trump Taj Mahal enters what could be its final weeks of operation in Atlantic City, there’s at least one vulture circling overhead.
Resorts Casino Hotel recently announced a promotion program offered exclusively to Trump Taj Mahal gamblers who have a Trump One membership card.
Anyone who shows the card at Resorts and signs up for the casino’s Star Card rewards program will receive a $25 new-member bonus good on slots or match play. They will also get a five-times multiplier on comp dollars and the chance to move up a rewards tier in just one day.
Resorts, Taj Mahal at bottom of July revenue
With the Taj’s looming closure on Oct. 10 in the wake of the UNITE HERE Local 54 strike and losses in the millions, Resorts is no doubt eyeing a piece of the $17.5 million Taj pulled in this past month on the other side of South Pennsylvania Avenue.
Resorts came in just ahead of the Taj, with $17.9 million in revenue for the month of July.
Local 54 strike still going strong
Despite the Taj’s announcement that it would close its doors, the labor strike continues.
This past Tuesday, the union posted to its Facebook account a rehashing of the Taj’s 2014 bankruptcy proceedings. That’s when billionaire Carl Icahn “used the bankruptcy process to strip 1,000 workers of their health insurance, pensions, paid lunch breaks and increase the workload for some,” according to the post.
The union’s tough facade showed what could be perceived as a bit of a crack when it announced on August 17 a GoFundMe campaign to help support workers on the picket lines.
A strike of this length (it began on July 1) is no doubt putting financial strain on the union’s resources as well as the employees themselves.
These are tenuous times for them, considering that a recent health care report published by the union noted that one in three workers has no health insurance.
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Meanwhile, Steel Pier business owners see falling profits
The Press of Atlantic City is reporting that the Taj strike is affecting business on nearby Steel Pier, likening the troubles to historic calamities in the pier’s storied past.
Anthony Catanoso, the pier’s owner, said that the strike’s presence has discouraged customers from coming down to the normally busy summer hangout.
“We are down between 15 to 20 percent. People don’t want to come down and deal with the chanting and the noise,” Catanoso told the Press of AC.