Atlantic City Casino Workers to Vote on Possible Strike
Atlantic City casino workers are voting Wednesday on whether to authorize a strike for increased wages, two weeks before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Unite Here Local 54’s contracts with Atlantic City’s major casino-hotels—including
MGM Resorts International’s
MGM 2.24%
Borgata and
Caesars Entertainment Inc.’s
CZR 5.08%
Harrah’s and Caesars properties—expired on May 31. Organizers say workers’ wages have fallen behind in recent years through the 2008 economic downturn, the damages from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the recent pandemic and inflation.
A Caesars spokeswoman declined to comment. MGM Resorts didn’t immediately comment.
Ruthann Joyce,
a bartender at Harrah’s who has worked in the industry since 1980, said the rising costs of groceries, gasoline and rent are putting pressure on workers with no end in sight. Meanwhile, the casino industry is rebounding following the pandemic closures. “We haven’t had any raises, and now is the time—when the companies are doing well—to address that,” Ms. Joyce said.
Workers are voting on whether to authorize the union’s negotiating committee to call a strike at five of the city’s nine casinos, including the Borgata, Harrah’s, Caesars, Tropicana and the Hard Rock. Those properties include 6,000 workers. Local 54 in total represents more than 10,000 casino service workers, including housekeepers, bartenders, cooks, cocktail servers and doormen.
Two casinos, Ocean and Bally’s, have agreed to follow any deal the union reaches with the other properties, a union spokeswoman said.
The negotiating committee would decide if, and when, a walkout would be called. The results of the vote are expected to be announced Wednesday evening.
In a union report, 61% of more than 1,900 surveyed casino workers said they had struggled to pay rent or mortgage on time at least once in the past year. The report says that as of March 2022, the average hourly wage at three of Caesars’ properties was about $15.81 for non-tipped workers and $8.80 for tipped workers, while the living wage in Atlantic City for a single person with no children was $18.83 an hour.
The union is seeking pay increases that include setting the minimum wage for workers at $18 hourly, compared with the current lowest wage of around $13 hourly, according to organizers.
In April, Atlantic City casino gambling revenue surpassed prepandemic levels. The casinos reported $235 million in revenue, compared with $208 million in April 2019.
Roughly one-third of surveyed workers said they had lacked money for food, utilities or transportation, according to the union’s report.
Nikki Schwendemann,
a Borgota food server who has worked in Atlantic City for 37 years, said she and her retired husband have tightened their household finances, including no vacations, movie outings or restaurants. They search for better grocery deals and cut back on their cable and cellphone bills. But, she said, it is still not enough.
“That little extra money would really go a long way,” Ms. Schwendemann said.
Write to Katherine Sayre at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Atlantic City casino workers are voting Wednesday on whether to authorize a strike for increased wages, two weeks before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Unite Here Local 54’s contracts with Atlantic City’s major casino-hotels—including
MGM Resorts International’s
MGM 2.24%
Borgata and
Caesars Entertainment Inc.’s
CZR 5.08%
Harrah’s and Caesars properties—expired on May 31. Organizers say workers’ wages have fallen behind in recent years through the 2008 economic downturn, the damages from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the recent pandemic and inflation.
A Caesars spokeswoman declined to comment. MGM Resorts didn’t immediately comment.
Ruthann Joyce,
a bartender at Harrah’s who has worked in the industry since 1980, said the rising costs of groceries, gasoline and rent are putting pressure on workers with no end in sight. Meanwhile, the casino industry is rebounding following the pandemic closures. “We haven’t had any raises, and now is the time—when the companies are doing well—to address that,” Ms. Joyce said.
Workers are voting on whether to authorize the union’s negotiating committee to call a strike at five of the city’s nine casinos, including the Borgata, Harrah’s, Caesars, Tropicana and the Hard Rock. Those properties include 6,000 workers. Local 54 in total represents more than 10,000 casino service workers, including housekeepers, bartenders, cooks, cocktail servers and doormen.
Two casinos, Ocean and Bally’s, have agreed to follow any deal the union reaches with the other properties, a union spokeswoman said.
The negotiating committee would decide if, and when, a walkout would be called. The results of the vote are expected to be announced Wednesday evening.
In a union report, 61% of more than 1,900 surveyed casino workers said they had struggled to pay rent or mortgage on time at least once in the past year. The report says that as of March 2022, the average hourly wage at three of Caesars’ properties was about $15.81 for non-tipped workers and $8.80 for tipped workers, while the living wage in Atlantic City for a single person with no children was $18.83 an hour.
The union is seeking pay increases that include setting the minimum wage for workers at $18 hourly, compared with the current lowest wage of around $13 hourly, according to organizers.
In April, Atlantic City casino gambling revenue surpassed prepandemic levels. The casinos reported $235 million in revenue, compared with $208 million in April 2019.
Roughly one-third of surveyed workers said they had lacked money for food, utilities or transportation, according to the union’s report.
Nikki Schwendemann,
a Borgota food server who has worked in Atlantic City for 37 years, said she and her retired husband have tightened their household finances, including no vacations, movie outings or restaurants. They search for better grocery deals and cut back on their cable and cellphone bills. But, she said, it is still not enough.
“That little extra money would really go a long way,” Ms. Schwendemann said.
Write to Katherine Sayre at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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