ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The owners of Atlantic City's Trump
Taj Mahal casino are accusing the city's main casino workers' union of hiding
behind federal labor law and the First Amendment to wage "economic
warfare" against the struggling gambling resort.
A bankruptcy judge in Delaware will consider a request
Wednesday by Trump Entertainment Resorts to force Local 54 of the Unite-HERE
union to acknowledge that letters it sent to Taj Mahal customers urging them to
take their business elsewhere were misleading. The casino wants the union to be
compelled to write to everyone it contacted, admitting its prior communication
with them was not accurate.
The union says its communications are protected free
speech, claiming a federal law called the Norris-LaGuardia Act prohibits
federal courts from barring publicity regarding a labor dispute.
The campaign began shortly before the judge granted Trump
Entertainment's request in October to cancel the union contract at the Taj
Mahal and impose the company's terms. It involved the union calling or sending
letters to groups that had booked events at the Taj Mahal, advising them of the
labor dispute between the casino and the union, and urging them to patronize
other casinos instead. Some groups did cancel.
In a recent court filing, Trump Entertainment said the
union believes federal labor law and the First Amendment "provide it carte
blanche to engage in economic warfare" against the casino in retaliation
for the court-ordered cancellation of the union contract.
"Federal labor law and the First Amendment provide
no shelter for the union," Trump Entertainment wrote. The company said the
union has acknowledged in court filings that the purpose of its campaign
"was not simply to inform, but to discourage patronage," and that the
campaign is an "economic weapon" to pressure the company.
In its response, the union said it is exercising its free
speech rights.
Contacting customers of a casino with which it is engaged
in a dispute is a time-honored tactic of Local 54. It used similar tactics to
dissuade clients of the Tropicana Casino Resort and Resorts Casino Hotel during
contract disputes in the last seven years.
The union is appealing the rejection of the union
contract, which also canceled employee health care and pension plans.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who owns the Tropicana,
is in the process of taking over Trump Entertainment by swapping $286 million
of its debt that he owns in return for ownership of the company. He has put up
$20 million to keep it operating through bankruptcy, but has repeatedly vowed
he will close the casino if the previous union contract, which he calls
unaffordable, is reinstated.
Trump Entertainment had repeatedly threatened to close
the Taj Mahal last fall and winter, until Icahn agreed to provide temporary
financing for it.
Neither Trump Entertainment nor union officials would
comment Tuesday beyond what was contained in their respective court filings.
Source: The
Tribune
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