For Release: Monday, March 23, 2009

Casino dealers launch ad campaign in Atlantic City, tell consumers everybody loses when workers are treated unfairly

The UAW Atlantic City Dealers Union has launched a multimedia advertising campaign to inform gaming consumers about the ongoing labor dispute at Atlantic City casinos.

The ads are part of a multimillion dollar effort to inform the public that casino dealers have had their hours reduced, their retirement benefits cut and their seniority stripped away while casino management either stalls progress at the bargaining table or breaks the law by refusing to negotiate.

The first round of ads, which can be viewed and heard at www.fairdealforacdealers.org, will run in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Press of Atlantic City and on New Jersey and Philadelphia radio stations.

While the casinos are implementing unilateral cuts to workers' hours and benefits, the radio and newspaper ads point out that executives like Gary Loveman, CEO of Harrah's, which owns Bally's and Caesars, are paying themselves millions in salary and bonuses. Loveman collected $39.6 million in total compensation in 2008.

"We think consumers have a right to know how the casinos in Atlantic City are treating their workers,"said Joe Ashton, director of UAW Region 9, which includes New Jersey as well as parts of Pennsylvania and New York. "I've lived in this area all my life, and I've seen the gaming industry grow up and become an important part of our community.

"A lot of jobs have been created, and many of them are good union jobs with good contracts negotiated with management by casino workers. There's no reason that dealers and slot technicians should be left out.

"When workers vote to form a union, they have a right to a seat at the table," said Ashton. "It's time for management to stop stalling and start negotiating -- and we're committed to keeping the pressure on until they meet their obligation to bargain in good faith."

Full- and part-time dealers at Caesars, as well as keno and simulcast workers, voted 4-to-1 to form their own union and become part of the UAW more than two years ago. In the months following, casino dealers, slot technicians and other casino workers at Bally's, Trump Plaza and Tropicana also voted yes for UAW representation.

More than 8,000 gaming industry workers are members of the UAW in Atlantic City, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan and Rhode Island.