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Bonus TL;DR
- The 102-day strike by Unite Here Local 54 led to the Trump Taj Mahal‘s permanent shutdown in 2016.
- The labor dispute successfully preserved health insurance and pension benefits for casino workers across Atlantic City.
The Trump Taj Mahal shutdown on Oct. 10, 2016, after a 102-day union strike, is still being cited in Atlantic City as a turning point for casino labor relations, with the former property now operating as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
The retrospective, published by the Press of Atlantic City, argues that the strike by Unite Here Local 54 helped preserve health insurance and pension benefits for workers across the city’s casino market. That gives the story ongoing relevance beyond one defunct property: it links a single labor dispute to later contract gains across Atlantic City’s gaming industry.
Strike followed benefit cuts and ended with the Taj’s closure
Local 54 workers went on strike on July 1, 2016, after billionaire investor Carl Icahn won a bankruptcy court ruling allowing the elimination of health insurance and pension benefits for unionized workers at the Taj Mahal, according to the report.
The casino closed for good at 5:59 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2016, costing nearly 3,000 jobs, the article said. Icahn said he had lost $300 million trying to keep the property open.
Former Taj dealer Al Kare told the newspaper, “We held the line for the whole city.” He added that his children “have their benefits still to this day because we held strong against a billionaire.”
The property had been one of Atlantic City’s most prominent casinos. When it opened in 1990, the Taj Mahal was described as the largest casino in the world, with 120,000 square feet of gaming space and a construction cost cited at roughly $1 billion.
Hard Rock reopened the former Taj site in 2018
The site did not stay dark for long. Hard Rock International bought the property in March 2017 and reopened it as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City on June 27, 2018.
According to Local 54 president Bob McDevitt, Hard Rock rehired 550 former Taj Mahal workers. That makes the property part of both sides of the story: first as the site of one of Atlantic City’s most consequential labor disputes, and later as a major employer for former Taj workers.
The article also ties the 2016 strike to later union negotiations. It says Local 54 secured what it called its best Atlantic City contract in 2022, including large pay raises, benefit enhancements, and worker protections. The city’s casinos later extended that contract for another year during the summer before publication.
Local 54 president Donna DeCaprio said the strike showed “that solidarity can outlast injustice” and that successful casino operations can coexist with “good wages, quality benefits and jobs that allow them to support themselves and their families.”
Source: As reported by Wayne Parry.
