Five Atlantic City casinos ratify new contracts, giving workers significant pay increases

Two major casinos have yet to reach agreements and remain vulnerable to strikes.

Five Atlantic City casinos have ratified new contracts with worker’s unions in a bid to prevent mass industrial action. Only two casinos are yet to settle. Local 54 of the Unite Here union said that 99% of workers who voted in ratification elections have approved of the new pacts, which will give them significant raises.

Housekeeping employees will see an immediate pay rise of their hourly rate to a standardized $18 per hour. This will increase to $22 per hour upon the completion of a four-year contract.
In addition to these raises, the agreements maintain fully-funded family health care, pension benefits and new technology protections

Union President Bob McDevitt approves of the new pacts, commenting, “It’s hard to sell a housekeeping job at $16 an hour. It’s a lot easier to sell one at $20 or $22 an hour.” The union has argued throughout negotiations that Atlantic City casinos were not keeping wages in line with rising living expenses.

Harrah’s Resort cook Dave Dorfman agreed with his union president, saying: “Casino workers have needed raises for a long time. Now there is an easier way forward for us, and the money will go a long way towards affording my daily expenses.”

The only two casinos without ratification agreements (Resorts Atlantic City and Golden Nugget) have yet to sit at the negotiation table with Local 54. Executives from both casinos refused to comment on the situation on Tuesday.

Unite Here plans to vote on July 19 on whether to authorize a strike at those two casinos if new deals are not reached by then. McDevitt said the strike authorization vote is a way to prepare for the real possibility that a work stoppage is forced.

Unite Here represents workers in The Borgata, Caesars, Harrah’s, Tropicana, Hard Rock, Bally’s and Ocean Casino Resort. All these casinos have reached fully-fledged agreements or so-called ‘me-too’ deals. Dorfman says, “We need to make sure that Resorts and Golden Nugget workers don’t get left behind.”

Robert Collins

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