SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Unionized Atlantic City casino workers have voted in favor of authorizing a strike if new contracts are not reached by the beginning of July.
More than 6,000 casino workers cast ballots on Wednesday, and 96% have voted in favor of authorizing the worker negotiation committee of Unite Here Local 54 to call a strike for an individual casino if an agreement is not reached with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah's Resort & Casino Atlantic City and Tropicana Atlantic City by July 1, and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City by July 3.
The previous contract expired in late May.
“I'm very excited to go forward with this,” said Janey Negron, a bartender at Tropicana. “We want the companies to know that we're serious, we're serious. We deserve what we want and we want the companies to know we're ready to go forward, whatever we have to do."
The biggest change to the contract involves pay, something Negron said has not been increased, despite union members going back to work when much of Atlantic City opened back up from COVID-19.
"They don't come back here just because it's a casino. They come back here for the employees. They come back here because they had a good experience. They come back here for us.”
The union went on strike in 2004 for 34 days, and walked out against the former Trump Taj Mahal casino in July 2016, which ended with the casino shutting down in October of that year.
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It has since reopened under different ownership as the Hard Rock.
Union president Bob McDevitt said in late May that the casino industry is showing strength in the third year of the pandemic, aided by strong performances in the internet gambling and sports betting industries. Last year, according to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, the casinos won over $4.2 billion in combined casino, online and sports betting revenue.
But casino executives have long said the online and sports betting revenue streams are not what they seem because the casinos only keep about 30% of that money, with the rest going to third-party providers.
They argue that money won from in-person gamblers on their premises is a truer indication of the health of the industry. Last year's in-person revenue figure was $2.5 billion, which is below the level of 2019, before the pandemic hit.
Earlier this month the union released a survey of 1,934 of its members that showed 61% reported struggling to pay their rent or mortgage on time in the past year; 32% reported they lacked money for food, 37% lacked enough for utilities, and 27% for transportation.
KYW Newsradio reached out to leaders of the casino and hotels, but did not initially hear back.
The union has secured agreements with Ocean and Bally's, to honor the terms of contracts they hope to eventually reach with the other companies.
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