Trump Taj Mahal officials say they want answers after a
state assemblyman running for re-election signed letters to casino management
urging them to not take action to prevent union workers from striking.
The letters, with the state of New Jersey seal, were
signed by Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo and mailed to the homes of about 70 nonunion
Taj employees by Local 54 of UNITE HERE. The union represents about 1,000
employees at the Taj Mahal.
Trump Entertainment Resorts CEO Bob Griffin said he wants
to know how a list of management’s names and addresses were obtained and
whether the mailing of an official state correspondence was paid for by the
union.
Griffin said the casino has sent Mazzeo a letter asking
for answers, but Mazzeo had not responded as of Tuesday. Griffin said the
letter created “a lot of panic among the families” of those who received it.
Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, said he was asked by Local 54 to
write a letter to leadership at the Taj Mahal, but did not know the letter
would be sent to people’s homes.
“To those who received this letter at their home instead
of the workplace, for that I sincerely apologize,” Mazzeo said in a statement.
“That was never the intention. But I won’t apologize for standing up for the
rights of Taj workers — both union and non-union who deserve the benefits that
they’ve worked so hard for.”
Asked if Mazzeo wrote the letter himself, Local 54
President Bob McDevitt said the union sent Mazzeo a draft of the letter.
Mazzeo’s office “tinkered around with it and made it theirs,” McDevitt said.
Mazzeo spokesman Marshall Spevak said Local 54 sent a “sample,
template letter” and then the office rewrote it.
McDevitt said the union did pay for the postage to send
the letters and the addresses were obtained “fairly easily” using the search
engine Google.
“They seem to think we have some secret list,” McDevitt
said. “They’ve never heard of Google.”
The Mazzeo letters, two of which were obtained by The
Press, said, “I have great concerns regarding reports of alleged Federal Labor
Law violations at the Taj Mahal, which are in connection to a recently announced
strike authorization vote at the property by members of UNITE HERE Local 54.”
The letter, dated Aug. 31, later said: “Under the law you
may not threaten, interrogate, or otherwise abuse workers with regards to a
decision whether or not to strike. I urge you to fully abide by the spirit and
letter of the law and undertake no efforts aimed at, or which can be construed
as, preventing workers from striking.”
While the letter asked those who received it not to
intimidate others, those who received it say they were intimidated by the
letter.
“I feel like as an elected official, he’s bullying on the
heels of the union,” said Cindi LePine, director of hotel operations at the Taj
Mahal, who received one of the letters.
“It’s not a nice letter to receive, and a lot of spouses
thought that their spouses were in trouble with the state of New Jersey,”
Griffin said.
Mazzeo said the letter speaks for itself
“If employees want to strike, legally, they have that
option, and I hope no one stands in their way,” Mazzeo said. “My sincere hope
is that it won’t come to that — it wouldn’t be good for the Taj, and it
wouldn’t be good for Atlantic City. The fact is that the workers, union and
nonunion, earned those benefits.”
McDevitt said similar letters have been sent by the union
in the past. He said Local 54 mailed letters signed by an elected official to
management at Revel Casino Hotel.
“The only thing that makes this different is they are the
only imbeciles to challenge the validity and the legality of the letter,”
McDevitt said.
McDevitt said there has been “all kind of intimidation
inside the property.” As an example, McDevitt said, there was a leak over a
service bar at the property, dripping on the heads of cocktail servers. When
the servers asked their manager what to do about it, they were told “wear a
shower cap,” McDevitt said.
Griffin said a number of employees have approached casino
officials about filing an ethics complaint with the state. LePine said she
hasn’t decided whether to file a complaint, but said she was leaning toward
doing so.
Jason M. Krajewski, legislative counsel for the state
Legislature, said in an email that no complaint had been received or filed
related to the letter or the attendant allegations about addressees, postage
and return addresses. He said the conduct would most likely fall under the
purview of the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards.
The letters generated buzz at Taj Mahal. A human
resources email sent to nonunion employees said, “Many of you have expressed to
us your concern with Assemblyman Mazzeo’s sole focus on Local 54 and his lack
of support for the 2,000 non-represented employees, many of which reside and
vote in his district.”
Mazzeo said he is proud to represent all workers at the
Taj Mahal, not just those in organized labor.
“An agreement between Mr. Icahn and Local 54 on health
and retirement benefits would be one that would have a positive impact on the
lives of all employees at the Taj,” Mazzeo said.
Source: Press
of Atlantic City
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