The management company for Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort has “permanently withdrawn” a health insurance offer it made to striking workers at the Atlantic City venue after their union failed to put the proposal to a vote before a July 18 deadline.
According to a report from The Associated Press news service, Las Vegas-based Tropicana Entertainment, managers of Taj Mahal, declared that its plan would have funded a health care scheme for the striking union members but not to the levels offered to those at other casinos. It additionally revealed that its proposal included the provision of medical insurance for all union members and their families.
“Regrettably, the union failed to put the offer to a vote by its Taj Mahal membership and therefore, as we indicated last week, the offer has been permanently withdrawn,” read a statement from Tony Rodio, President and Chief Executive Officer for Tropicana Entertainment, which is controlled by billionaire investor Carl Icahn through his New York-based Icahn Enterprises vehicle.
Around 1,000 members of the Local 54 chapter of the UNITE-HERE union have been on strike since July 1 in an effort to restore health care and pension benefits terminated by a bankruptcy judge in 2014.
Bob McDevitt, President for UNITE-HERE’s Local 54, stated that the offer made to the picketing food, beverage and housekeeping department workers amounted to “essentially half” of what those at other casinos received. He moreover asserted that one-third of the union’s workers at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort currently have no health insurance while a further 50% rely on taxpayer-subsidized plans.
“Can you imagine what it is like to work in this city; to spend your days doing the back-breaking work of cleaning hotel rooms or walking all over the casino floor serving drinks in high heels without health insurance,” said McDevitt. “Part of the reason that the property continues to do poorly is because of how it has treated its workforce.”
McDevitt told The Associated Press that Local 54 reached deals with four other casinos last month including the Tropicana Casino And Resort Atlantic City, which is also owned by Icahn Enterprises.
Tropicana and Trump Taj Majal Associates, owner of the casino, are subsidiaries of Icahn Enterprises LP.