After earning a raise in October last year, 175 employees of the buffet restaurant in Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York, were told on Monday that the eatery would close.
The Malaysian owned highest-grossing slot parlour in United States made a sudden decision to close down the restaurant, saying that it had been unprofitable from day one (it opened in 2011), reported the New York Times on Wednesday.
“If we allowed it to remain open, it would have ultimately had a negative impact,” the daily quoted Genting Group spokesman Kerri Lyon as saying.
“If that’s consistently losing money, then it becomes a drain on other parts of the business, and it becomes harder to sustain a business that you certainly want and the community wants to survive,” Lyon said.
The NYT report revealed that last year, a local arbitrator had ordered the casino management to pay employees a living wage, doubling the staff’s average pay cheques.
The ruling had affected more than 1,300 employees, mostly low-wage earners who found themselves propelled to the middle class as a result of the pay hike.
However, the sudden turnaround on Monday angered employees.
“They just threw us out like dogs. They just gave us a couple of dollars to shut up, and that’s it,” Mariano Cano, 45, a server at the buffet told NYT.
Cano’s pay was US$5 (RM16.30) an hour, including tips, but it shot up to US$12 (RM39.20) after the wage increase.
Sally Navarro, 25, a hostess with weekly earnings of US$707 (RM2310.40) after the revised wage, said the dismissal had left her stranded without money to pay bills and tuition for nursing school which she had planned to attend.
“A lot of us got hurt. I think they are being greedy,” she said.
The casino opened in October 2011 and had almost 1,800 employees before the recent dismissal.
According to Lyon, it posted revenues of US$696.5 million as of March last year.
The restaurant had just increased its prices prior to the closure, although Lyon said that the increase had nothing to do with the pay increase.
Employees said they were banking on a meeting between their union, New York Hotel Trades Council and officials from Genting Group to provide other jobs in the casino.
However, on Wednesday, employees turned in their uniforms and collected their last pay cheques.
“I’m very upset about this,” said John Turchiano, a union spokesman.
“We are doing everything possible to assist these workers.”
According to Turchiano, the dismissed workers would be given priority for new jobs that are available and they will receive an additional four months of health insurance coverage. Severance pay was also provided. – January 10, 2014.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/genting-resort-restaurant-in-ny-shuts-down-leaving-175-jobless
175 jobless, yet Genting still eyes US gambling scene
The Genting Group continues to tout dominance in the US gambling scene, despite laying off 175 restaurant workers at its casino in New York yesterday.
The Financial Times reported today that the conglomerate had teamed up with three horseracing associations in Miami yesterday “with respect to a potential casino”.
The same day New York governor Andrew Cuomo laid out a timetable for attracting the state’s first casinos, in which Genting has been taking a keen interest.
The daily also reported that Genting received encouraging news last week on its involvement in what would be Massachusetts first casino.
The casino is a US$500 million (RM1.6 billion) gaming facility operated by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in partnership with Genting.
However, it is believed that the Malaysian company faces an array of challenges.
Florida is said to be a difficult prospect because only one operator is allowed to run a casino under a longstanding exclusivity arrangement with the state government.
“Given that legislators have twice rejected ‘destination resorts’ proposals that would allow the creation of at least two sizeable casino resorts, the regulatory approval remains the key hurdle,” said Kenanga Research.
Genting’s first foray into Miami in 2011 was marked by a string of painful events, when it announced the development of a US$3.8 billion (RM12.4 billion) resort on 30 acres of land.
While the Resorts World Omni hotel that was to form the core of that resort still exists, the wider project never materialised, partly due to opposition from rival existing hotel businesses, analysts told The Financial Times.
It was also reported that Genting sued the US federal government last year in an effort to continue using foreign labour for a Miami-based casino ship offering overnight gambling cruises in international waters.
A federal judge, however, ruled yesterday against Genting‘s request to overturn orders by immigration officials to either stop the cruises or hire US workers as crew, reported Miami Herald.
“The same company that promised to create 100,000 jobs is now suing the federal government to try and exploit foreign workers at subpar wages rather than hire Floridians,’’ said John Sowinski, the Orlando-based campaign consultant who heads the No Casinos advocacy group.
“It shows how big a lie the jobs argument is.” – January 11, 2014.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/175-jobless-yet-genting-still-eyes-us-gambling-scene
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| GENTING to open slots-only casino in Miami
Malaysia
Chronicle
PETALING JAYA - Genting Malaysia Bhd's has
entered into a four-way partnership to open a slots-only casino at the Resorts
World Omni Center in ...
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| Inside Gaming: Genting's Agreement With
Gulfstream, Fines in Philly ... PokerNews.com
In this edition of Inside Gaming we take a look at
Genting's deal in Florida, Harrah's Philadelphia's fine, the Gaming
Commission Chairman in New ...
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| 175 jobless, yet Genting still eyes US gambling scene
The Malaysian Insider
The same day New York
governor Andrew Cuomo laid out a timetable for attracting the state's first
casinos, in which Genting has been
taking a keen ...
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WZVN-TV
Gambling giant
Genting, Gulfstream Park and the horse industry may have mapped out a
slot-machines happy ending, but the deal faces hurdles ...
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Business Journal
Malaysian-based Genting Group is looking for a slots
machine license with a permit owned by a non-profit linked to Gulfstream Park
racing track, ...
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| Slot Machines In Downtown Miami? WLRN
The Genting
Resort World, which owns the former site of the Miami Herald, hopes that by
down-scaling to include only slot machines, it can increase ...
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Genting: We bombed in Miami; Jockeying for position in ... David McKee
It took almost no
time at all for Genting Group's latest Miami proposal to draw heavy
political criticism. State Sen. Gwen Margolis (D), who represents ...
Genting's plans under fire - Economy & Banking - MiamiHerald.com
Jumpstarting the
economy was Genting's original promise, but now it's getting criticism
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| www.miamiherald.com/2014/.../gentings-plans-under-fire.htm... |
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