ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Striking Atlantic City casino workers are using the Fourth of July holiday to highlight their struggle against billionaire Carl Icahn, who owns the Trump Taj Mahal casino.
Customers have been crossing picket lines in large numbers since Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union walked off the job Friday, but the union vows to picket around the clock until a new contract is reached.
The main issue in the strike is the termination of union members’ health insurance and pension benefits by previous owners.
Picketers say they are fighting Icahn’s “tyranny” the same way the Colonies fought the King of England during the American Revolution. He had no immediate response.
The casino was opened in 1990 by Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, but it now belongs to Icahn.