Over the weekend, continuing into today, the Unite Here Local 54 union of Atlantic City has asked visitors to the area to boycott two casino properties. The Trump Taj Mahal and the Tropicana have been subject to protests from the union based on employee treatment and the union wants to continue their efforts during the holiday.
Members of the union placed neon signs on the local beachfront when the weekend began to spell out the names of both casinos. For weeks, the union has threatened to strike at both casinos, and tweeted pictures of their signs Saturday and Sunday to get the word out of the boycott. One Twitter post read: “We brought our own lightshow to the Trop! Honor The Taj and Trop boycotts!”A poster was also placed outside of the Taj Mahal with balloons attached that read the word ‘boycott’.
If a strike were to take place, 2,000 casino employees could be affected. To try and continue their efforts, the State AFL-CIO stated that fellow union members should boycott the casinos in Atlantic City that are to be owned or are owned by Carl Icahn.
The reason behind the efforts at the Taj are due to the termination of pension plans and health insurance for casino workers. The union has been planning a strike of the Taj for some time now but has yet to start. The company received permission from the courts back in October to end the payments for pension and health care as part of a cost-cutting campaign of the property.