The Trump Entertainment bankruptcy that's threatening
to close the Trump Taj Mahal casino is centered around union
negotiations over retirement and health care. In its bankruptcy filing, Trump
Entertainment cited high labor costs (along with high real estate taxes) as a
main culprit of financial hardship.
D. Taylor, president of the Unite Here union told
Bloomberg that workers
rejected a proposal to remove their health care benefits and pension plans.
Here's more:
Trump Entertainment asked for concessions including the
elimination of a traditional union pension in favor of a 401(k) plan, and the
end of the company’s health-care plan, according to two people with knowledge
of the situation.
Employees would instead be given $2,000 in credit to use
toward one of the plans available through the 2010 Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, said the people, who sought anonymity because they weren’t
authorized to speak publicly.
But the New York Times reports that
Trump Entertainment's problems go well beyond labor issues — which is actually
another reason the union is standing firm:
Trump Entertainment did not pay millions of dollars in
property taxes last month, and, the company said, it will not be able to pay
off more than $285 million in bonds.
“If our members were to work for minimum wage with no
benefits, it wouldn’t be enough to keep this property in the hands of its
current owners for a year,” Bob McDevit, president of Unite Here Local 54,
said in a statement. “Trump’s management failed to capitalize on over $130
million in gaming revenue so far this year from Taj Mahal. Fundamental to
Trump’s problems is the fact that the company had almost $300 million in debt.”
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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