Donald Trump
The owners of the Trump Taj Mahal casino announced on Wednesday that they will shut down the casino after Labor Day weekend — due to an ongoing strike by union members.
The strike by Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union began on July 1 — by Thursday, the strike will have lasted 35 days, longer than the 34-day strike the union staged against seven casinos in 2004 — making this strike the longest in the 38-year history of Atlantic City’s casino era.
No negotiations are scheduled to take place with the Atlantic City casino that Donald Trump opened in 1990 — and has since been owned by Trump’s friend Carl Icahn.
The strike was initiated when the union demanded restoration of health insurance and pension benefits, that a bankruptcy court judge allowed the casino’s former owners to eliminate in 2014.
“We knew when the workers rejected the company’s proposal that any time you go out on strike, you don’t necessarily get to control how long it lasts,” said Bob McDevitt, president of the union. “But the workers are strongly committed to social justice in this fight. We’re prepared to stay out for as long as it takes to get a fair contract.”
Icahn previously claimed the company offered a contract that would have temporarily restored health care, but at a lesser rate than employees of the city’s other seven casinos.
The Taj Mahal was reportedly losing millions of dollars and needed an 18-month breathing period in order to rebuild its business and cash flow.
Union negotiators rejected that proposal, believing that Taj Mahal workers should be treated the same as those at other casinos, including the Tropicana casino, which Icahn also owns.
“Our disappointment is that Carl Icahn took care of the Tropicana workers, but not us,” remarked Chuck Baker, a longtime cook at the Taj Mahal. “That’s hard to swallow. It’s like having kids, and you give to one of them but not the others. It’s not right, and you just don’t do that.”
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