National Labor Relations Board sides with union in Taj dispute

The National Labor Relations Board asked a federal appeals court Thursday to reverse a ruling that gave Taj Mahal Casino Hotel the go-ahead to cancel its labor contract with its main union.

The union, Local 54 of UNITE-HERE, is fighting in the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn an October ruling by a federal judge who let the casino replace union pensions with 401(k) plans and union health care with Affordable Care Act coverage.

Carl Icahn, the casino’s main lender and de facto owner, has said he will close the resort if the union wins the appeal.

In a filing with the court, the Board, an independent federal agency, said the judge lacked authority to issue the October ruling. The agency said the ruling "displaces the Board’s primary authority" to enforce the National Labor Relations Act, which governs most labor relations between private-sector employers and employees.

Icahn, in an open letter to union workers who protested outside his office on Thursday, said today that UNITE-HERE leaders “do not seem to care that if they win the appeal it will only mean the loss of the very jobs they are supposed to protect.”

”It’s a sad state of affairs,” he said.

This is a developing story. Return for details.

Source: Press of Atlantic City