Atlantic City is teetering on bankruptcy because of bailouts, infrastructure upgrades, juggling to address rampant CRIME and their addiction to low wage jobs and Casinos that don't want to pay property taxes.
The Gambling Industry, widely known for being Anti-Union is revealing its goals.
Each and every one of the Casino Cheerleaders will be out of office when the truth of their Folly becomes evident.
[Below are a number of articles illustrating the issue.]
July 3, 2012
AC rejects union vote bid on Revel job limits
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City rejected a bid by its main casino workers union to force a public vote this fall on one casino's policy limiting many customer service jobs to between four and six years.In a June 28 letter received by the union on Monday, City Clerk Rhonda Williams rejected petitions from Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union, saying they improperly tied the hands of the City Council and did not have enough signatures.
The union says it has more than enough signatures and will go to court to force the referendum in November.
The $2.4 billion Revel casino, which opened in April, is the only one of Atlantic City's 12 casinos to impose term limits on employees. Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis says the business needs to ensure that customer service employees don't become indifferent to the needs of guests.
But Williams wrote: "I have concluded that the initiatives are invalid because they attempt to permanently tie the hands of the governing body into the future."
She also said the petitions had to be rejected because they did not equal at least 15 percent of Atlantic City's registered voters.
But the union says it is only required under state law to collect signatures equal to 15 percent of the number of Atlantic City voters who cast ballots in the last ballots for the state Assembly — a much lower threshold that the union says it easily surpassed.
A union spokesman said Local 54 plans to challenge the rejections in court soon.
"As expected, rather than let the citizens of Atlantic City vote on ordinances that would make life better for workers in AC, the City of Atlantic City chose to reject our initiative petitions with fallacious readings of the law," union president Bob McDevitt said. "With Atlantic City teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, why the leadership of this city will again waste taxpayer money to defend a suit we will bring and expect to win is beyond my understanding."
Revel declined to comment.
Before Revel opened, applicants were told they will have jobs for as little as four years at a time, after which they will have to re-apply. That means competing with younger, fresher faces — a requirement that has never been made before in the 34-year history of casino gambling in Atlantic City.
Jobs that are subject to term limits of up to six years include dealers, valets, cocktail servers, bartenders and front desk clerks.
The casino says it will recruit for supervisory positions from among those workers and will encourage advancement through the ranks. At the end of the job term, any employee who has not been promoted will have to re-apply for the same job and compete with all other comers.
McDevitt says that will have the effect of purging the workforce of all but the youngest, most attractive faces.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57465830/ac-rejects-union-vote-bid-on-revel-job-limits/
Caesars casinos skips out on local property tax burden in Missouri
Atlantic City casinos win tax appeals
Driving the tax increase is the loss of $1.4 billion in ratables, 7 percent of the city’s ratable base, down to $18.1 billion. The drop came mainly because of tax appeal settlements, including those that reduced property values for Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s four local properties.
Caution: 'Sluggish' U.S. gaming worries Moody's
Atlantic City: Putting Lipstick on a Pig
The Christie administration has a particular interest in Revel's success. Last year, New Jersey contributed $261 million in tax credits to aid in the casino's completion.
Casinos aren’t the future
Developer: Pols can't keep approving new casinos
"Here in Atlantic City, we have assets for sale that literally nobody wants to buy," said Gary Loveman, president of Caesars Entertainment, which counts four Atlantic City gambling halls among its 56 casinos. "There is simply too much supply in Atlantic City. The supply doesn't go away. That's a very bad thing. The problem here? Nobody ever closes." [Caesars is + $20 BILLION in debt - not million, but BILLION.]Taxpayer subsidized Revel, now anti-union
"It is appalling that Revel has taken hundreds of millions of dollars in state assistance, and then it turns around and institutes anti-worker policies," ....
"Revel's policies of term-limiting service employees and huge use of part-time workers are a direct attack on the labor movement," ....
Caesars, Atlantic City settle tax appeal
The future of Suffolk Downs?
The $42 million South Inlet Transportation Improvement Project, when finished in April,....
The undertaking is the largest in the city since the $330 million Atlantic City Expressway Connector opened in 2001. That project made it easier to get to the Marina District and led to the development of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa two years later.
Revel: OSHA for Death of Worker
Casino capitalism
In states that legalize gambling, casinos no doubt create jobs but they don’t necessarily stimulate the larger economy. A 1999 report by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that “few businesses can be found more than a few blocks from the Atlantic City boardwalk. Many of the ‘local’ businesses remaining are pawnshops, cash-for-gold stores and discount outlets. One witness noted that, ‘in 1978 [the year the first casino opened], there were 311 taverns and restaurants in Atlantic City. Nineteen years later, only 66 remained, despite the promise that gaming would be good for the city’s own.’”
Casino jobs are comparable to those created throughout the American service economy: They are no replacement for vanished manufacturing employment, and wages can be quite low if unions don’t fight their way into the picture. In Las Vegas, Culinary Workers Local 226 (part of UNITE HERE) has organized 60,000 casino and hospitality workers, boosting wages and benefits far above those that prevail in non-union Reno. But Atlantic City’s downward spiral shows the fragility of labor success in the service economy. Most of the 5,500 permanent employees at the Revel will, in a first for the heavily unionized boardwalk, have to reapply for their jobs every four to six years.
Likewise, the prospect of casinos driving net job growth nationwide seems unlikely. While commercial casino revenues nationwide have increased by 73 percent since 1998, employment grew by just 5 percent, or 15,132 jobs, to 340,564. In New England, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and Rhode Island are rushing to expand casino gambling and outcompete their neighbors.
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Union sues to stop bailout of Revel
Revel hits the jackpot at taxpayer expense
New Jersey Desperation: Tax Breaks for Revel
Casino Capitalism by Morgan Stanley
Atlantic City: Union Files Suit Against Bailout
NJ: The Morgan Stanley Casino Bailout
Poverty in Atlantic City
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