STRIKE AT CAESARS, HARRAH’S, TROP SET FRIDAY UNLESS CONTRACT TALKS SUCCEED
By Mark Donovan
Atlantic City casino workers prepared for the possibility that contract talks would fail and that the union would go out on strike Friday morning.
Local 54 of the Unite Here union was to negotiate with Hard Rock on Tuesday, with talks planned with the owners of three or four others on Wednesday in the hope of reaching new labor agreements and averting a strike during one of the casinos’ busiest weekends of the year.
The union has authorized a strike against the Borgata and the three casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment — Caesars, Harrah’s and Tropicana — on Friday. It also set a Sunday strike deadline for Hard Rock.
Two other casinos, Bally’s and the Ocean Casino Resort, have reached so-called “me-too” agreements in which they pledge to adopt the terms of contracts reached by the bigger properties in town, meaning they will not face a strike.
