The United Auto Workers union has decided to withdrawal from the New Jersey chapter of the AFL-CIO, according to a WHYY PBS local news report.
The union said that its choice to leave is due to other groups’ support of a recent ruling to continue allowing smoking in Atlantic City’s casinos.
The group, which represents Bally’s Tropicana and Caesars casino dealers, sued to overturn the current law on the books that allows smoking inside Atlantic City’s nine casinos.
However, casino workers from the Local 54 of the Unite Here union and New Jersey’s attorney general pushed back by asking a state judge to dismiss the suit.
As a result, Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels ruled in favor of allowing smoking on Atlantic City’s casino floors.
According to a motion filed in state Superior Court, Local 54 said a smoking ban could create significant job losses. The group claims that nearly a third of its 10,000 members “would be at risk of losing their jobs and the means to support their families if smoking were banned.”
UAW Region 9 Director Daniel Vicente Jr. shared with local news his frustration over the court’s decision and lack of support from other local unions.
He said, “I cannot express how furious our institution is at the Jersey state-level AFL and the other unions that filed an injunction status against us.
“This is a moral, health and safety issue.”
Indoor smoking has been illegal in New Jersey since 2006. However, the current laws on the books make room for smoking in casinos and in simulcasting facilities, an allowance casino employees have pushed back against for more than three years.
Currently, smoking is allowed in Atlantic City’s casinos on 25% of the gaming floor. These spaces are not designed to contain smoke, causing it to waft into other areas of the casino.
