Workers, union seek to keep 3 endangered Atlantic City casinos open
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Many workers at three Atlantic City casinos that could shut down in the next few months are trying to keep them open.
Workers at the Showboat, Trump Plaza and Revel, along with their union, are lining up political support, rallying public opinion against the planned shutdowns, and offering flexibility in negotiating a contract with anyone who would buy a casino and keep it open.
Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union president Bob McDevitt says many workers refuse to accept that they are no longer needed or wanted.
The union is contacting potential buyers for the casinos, saying they can be profitably run if bought at a low enough price.
Showboat beverage server Melanie Gillespie says many workers don't want to go down without a fight.
Stop scratching on holidays
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Workers at the Showboat, Trump Plaza and Revel, along with their union, are lining up political support, rallying public opinion against the planned shutdowns, and offering flexibility in negotiating a contract with anyone who would buy a casino and keep it open.
Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union president Bob McDevitt says many workers refuse to accept that they are no longer needed or wanted.
The union is contacting potential buyers for the casinos, saying they can be profitably run if bought at a low enough price.
Showboat beverage server Melanie Gillespie says many workers don't want to go down without a fight.
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scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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