UAW Plotting Strike Against Atlantic City Casinos?

You have to hand it to the UAW. Their timing is absolutely impeccable. They're contemplating going on strike against several casinos in the course of trying to unionize casino dealers and floor workers at a time when Atlantic City is reeling from the recession and revenues are down significantly every year since 2006. Tax revenues from the casinos is also sharply lower, which means that state revenues are going to take a hit as well. Casino revenues are down more than 15% this year. The state can't afford Atlantic City's woes, and a strike would make things worse. From the Record:

The parent company of two Atlantic City casinos targeted for a possible dealers' strike began planning Monday to hire replacement workers in the event of a walkout.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. said it started implementing a contingency plan that includes hiring replacement workers for any dealers who go out on strike.

Over the weekend, the United Auto Workers authorized a strike against Bally's Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City, but did not set a strike date. Previously, the union authorized a strike against the Tropicana Casino and Resort.

"We take their threats seriously," said J. Carlos Tolosa, the company's eastern regional president. "There are 14,000 employees in Atlantic City who rely on Harrah's for their livelihood, and we are not going to let the misguided tactics of the UAW interfere with our guests or the employees who are working hard to keep Atlantic City competitive this summer."

Company spokeswoman Alyce Parker said any actual recruitment and hiring would be done "when and if there is a strike."

A Tropicana executive did not immediately return a call seeing information on preparations for a possible strike.

The UAW is seeking the first-ever union contracts with 3,000 Atlantic City dealers, even though hotel and other service workers have been unionized for decades. In addition to Bally's, Caesars and the Tropicana, they also won a union representation election at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, but have not yet voted on a strike there.

The casinos are preparing for the strike contingency by planning to hire replacement workers so that they can continue gaming operations.

The casinos have already cut more than 3,000 jobs since last year.

And yet, many of those dealers have signed off on considering a strike:

UAW spokesman Dave Mellet said 97 percent of Caesars dealers and 100 percent of the slot technicians authorized a strike, as did 92 percent of Bally's dealers. That comes just months after dealers and slot technicians at the Tropicana Casino and Resort made similar decisions.

Look for Gov. Corzine to press the casinos to give in to the union demands, rather than see the strike take place.

So why are the workers looking to unionize? They are busy saying that the casinos are cutting back on their 401(k) and pension plans and other benefits. Welcome to the wonderful world of being an employee in a recession. The travel and tourism industry is heavily dependent on people freely spending their money, and casinos take a serious hit during recessions. The casino operators aren't going to expand benefits at a time like this, and cutting such benefits is one of their options other than cutting payroll. However, because the situation in Atlantic City is so bad, they're cutting payroll and cutting benefits.

"Nobody wants a strike, but we're going to stand up to enforce our rights," added Ed Hendricks, a Caesars slot technician for 15 years. "We have negotiated for almost two years, but instead of reaching an agreement, the company keeps cutting back. Harrah's has cut our 401(k) match, increased our benefit costs and laid off our fellow workers."

Steve Norton, a Missouri casino consultant and former vice president of Resorts Atlantic City, predicted many dealers would cross picket lines if a strike happened.

"You don't make that kind of threat unless you're prepared to go through with it," he said. "Any dealer with any intelligence would realize the industry is in horrible shape right now. It would be like signing a death warrant for your own job."

The problem for these workers is that if they go on strike, others will happily take their place and they'll be out of jobs.