Tropicana Makes Millions, Short-Changes Workers

Al Welenc
Tropicana Atlantic City Casino and Resort
Atlantic City, N.J.
UAW

Al Welenc has worked as a casino dealer at the Tropicana Atlantic City Casino and Resort for the past 23 years. When he was hired, Tropicana was promising full-time, family-supporting jobs. A year ago, he and his co-workers voted to join the UAW because the promise had been broken. They want a decent wage, respectable hours and a safe working environment.

Since Welenc first started at the casino, the Tropicana has grown from a small, one-building operation to a four-tower complex that generates more than $400 million a year. Over the same period, his pay has increased annually by only 25 cents, and he has never received a bonus of more than $25. Some of his colleagues haven’t had a pay raise in 10 years.

Welenc has seen the Tropicana eliminate full-time positions, shifting many workers to part-time status that leaves dealers ineligible for benefits or a pension. When management decides to award an employee full-time standing, it seems like favoritism to him, says Welenc.

Welenc and his co-workers question Tropicana’s commitment to their health and safety. The casino has fought to be exempt from a municipal smoking ban—leaving Welenc and his colleagues to constantly inhale dangerous second-hand fumes—until the City Council passed the bill this spring.

The workers still are waiting for their first union contract, despite having chosen a union one year ago. As they were set to go to the bargaining table, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission denied the Tropicana’s owner a license and placed it in the trust of a former New Jersey Supreme Court judge. A union-busting law firm, hired to bargain with the union, has failed to honor commitments; rejected reasonable contract proposals; and even limited the time for scheduling bargaining meetings.