Atlantic City casino workers protested lawmakers’ decision to drop a smoking ban bill by lighting cigarettes during a Senate committee meeting. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Make their feelings known
Casino workers in Atlantic City have been pushing for a safer work environment for the past two years, calling for a complete ban on people smoking on gaming floors. A bill aimed at doing just that has made its way to the New Jersey Senate Health Committee.
The vote was underway before one of the bill’s main supporters, Sen. Vince Polestina, gave up the fight on Wednesday evening. Seven members of the United Auto Workers (UAW), which represents the interests of some workers, protested the decision not to go ahead with the vote during a meeting Thursday.
They blew smoke on the deputies
They lit cigarettes at the State House during the meeting and blew smoke on the legislators before the state police took them out of the building. One union member shouted, “We’re not allowed to smoke in your workplace, but you are allowed to smoke in our workplace!”
An ongoing battle
UAW Regional Director Daniel Vincente told local media that lawmakers had “completely given up” and that workers felt “betrayed by our lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans.” The Casino Employees Against the Effects of Smoking Facebook page uploaded footage of the protest.
People are not allowed to smoke in the majority of public places in New Jersey. One major exception is that 25% of a casino’s gaming floors are open to smokers, and this area does not have to be all in the same place. Workers complained about the health problems they suffer from long-term exposure to secondhand smoke.
Find a middle ground
The New Jersey Casino Association, which represents the state’s nine casinos, issued a statement after the bill was dropped. She claimed that the legislation in its current form would have a “significant negative impact” on the city’s economy and that many different stakeholders opposed it because thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue would be at risk. The group wants to find a compromise that satisfies the workers’ desires without compromising anything.
I am currently drafting a bill that might serve as a middle point
Senator Vince Polestina revealed that he is currently drafting a bill that could serve as a middle ground between casinos and their dissatisfied workers. It would ban patrons from smoking at table games and gradually reduce smoking in the vents over an 18-month period to give the property enough time to build enclosed rooms. Employees then volunteer to work in closed environments as part of the proposal.
