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Trump Taj Mahal workers strike for third day, marring July 4 weekend

Paul Davidson
USA TODAY
Striking union members walk a picket line outside the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union went on strike Friday against the casino, which is owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

About 150 workers at Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino hotel picketed on the boardwalk Sunday afternoon after 1,000 of the resort’s cooks, housekeepers, bellmen and servers walked off the job ahead of the busiest weekend of the year.

The workers are seeking reinstatement of health, pension and other benefits eliminated during 2014 bankruptcy proceedings, as well as higher wages. They earn an average of $11.80 an hour, and their hourly wages have risen 80 cents the past 12 years, union representatives say.

Workers and owners of four other casinos—Ceasar’s, Harrah’s resort, Bally’s and Tropicana -- reached a tentative deal on a new contract on the eve of the July 1 strike deadline, with employees winning higher pay and the retention of benefits, a union official said.

The Taj Mahal’s striking workers “are making a bold statement,” says Bob McDevitt, president of local 54 of the UNITE HERE union. “They’re not going to be second-class workers. There’s no reason they should (be treated) as if they’re a third world country.”

Billionaire  Carl Icahn owns the Trump Taj Mahal and a majority of the Tropicana through his private equity firm. Another private equity company, the Apollo Group, controls Caesars, Harrah’s and Bally’s.

McDevitt says Icahn Enterprises’ last offer included a bare-bones health plan, and no reinstatement of pension and severance benefits or paid meal breaks. The firm, he says, did agree to ease housekeepers’ daily workload, reverting to the pre-bankruptcy standard for the number of rooms required to be cleaned daily. No new talks are scheduled, he says.

Icahn’s management team has not returned messages seeking comment but has said the union seems “hell-bent on trying to close this property” and pointed out that he has spent $86 million keeping the Taj Mahal alive through bankruptcy.

During the Fourth of July weekend, guests continued to come and go and gamblers played the slots and table games. But the casino’s website wasn’t accepting hotel room reservations through next week and an employee at the front desk said no rooms were available through next week because of the striking workers.

Contributing: Associated Press

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