Current:Home > reviewsAtlantic City casino workers plan ad blitz to ban smoking after court rejects ban -Wealth Momentum Network
Atlantic City casino workers plan ad blitz to ban smoking after court rejects ban
View
Date:2025-04-15 23:19:24
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A group of Atlantic City casino workers seeking to ban smoking in the gambling halls will launch an advertising campaign featuring their children in response to a judge’s rejection of a lawsuit that would have ended smoking in the nine casinos.
The workers, calling themselves Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, said Wednesday the digital ads will target the districts of state lawmakers who have the power to advance pending legislation that would ban smoking in the casinos.
And a labor union that brought the unsuccessful lawsuit said it would withdraw from the state AFL-CIO over the issue, saying the parent labor group has not supported the health and safety of workers.
On Friday, a state judge rejected the lawsuit, ruling the workers’ claim that New Jersey’s Constitution guarantees them a right to safety “is not well-settled law” and that they were unlikely to prevail with such a claim.
The ruling relieved the casinos, which continue to struggle in the aftermath of the COVID19 pandemic, with most of them winning less money from in-person gamblers than they did before the virus outbreak in 2020.
But it dismayed workers including dealers, who say they have to endure eight-hour shifts of people blowing smoke in their faces or just breathing cigarette smoke in the air.
“I dealt through two pregnancies,” said Nicole Vitola, a Borgata dealer and co-founder of the anti-smoking group. “It was grueling. We’re human beings. We have an aging workforce.”
Whether to ban smoking is one of the most controversial issues not only in Atlantic City casinos, but in other states where workers have expressed concern about secondhand smoke. They are waging similar campaigns in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Virginia.
Currently, smoking is allowed on 25% of the casino floor in Atlantic City. But those areas are not contiguous, and the practical effect is that secondhand smoke is present in varying degrees throughout the casino floor.
The workers sought to overturn New Jersey’s indoor smoking law, which bans it in virtually every other workplace except casinos.
The ad campaign will be titled “Kids of C.E.A.S.E.” and will feature the children of casino workers expressing concern for their parents’ health and safety in smoke-filled casinos.
“I have two kids, aged 17 and 11,” said Pete Naccarelli, a Borgata dealer. “I want to be there for them when they graduate, when they get married, when they have kids. We do not want to be collateral damage for casinos’ perceived profits.”
The Casino Association of New Jersey expressed gratitude last week for the court ruling, and it said the casinos will work for a solution that protects workers and the financial interests of the industry.
“Our industry has always been willing to sit down and collaborate to find common ground, but the smoking ban advocates have refused,” said Mark Giannantonio, president of the association and of Resorts casino.
The casinos say that banning smoking will lead to revenue and job losses. But workers dispute those claims.
Workers called on state legislators to advance a bill that would ban smoking that has been bottled up for more than a year. It was released from a Senate committee in January but never voted on by the full Senate. It remains in an Assembly committee.
Sen. Joseph Vitale, a Democrat, promised the bill would get a full Senate vote “shortly.”
Also Wednesday, Dan Vicente, regional director of the United Auto Workers, said he will pull the union out of the AFL-CIO, saying the larger group has been insufficiently supportive of casino workers’ health. The AFL-CIO did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
___
Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
veryGood! (9)
Related
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- How baseball legend Willie Mays earned the nickname 'The Say Hey Kid'
- California fines Amazon nearly $6M, alleging illegal work quotas at 2 warehouses
- As Philippines sailor hurt in South China Sea incident, U.S. cites risk of much more violent confrontation
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Detroit Pistons fire coach Monty Williams after one season that ended with NBA’s worst record
- Missouri attorney general says not so fast on freeing woman jailed for 43 years in 1980 killing
- Pregnant Hailey Bieber's Latest Baby Bumpin' Look Will Make U Smile
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- 2024 College World Series highlights: Tennessee rolls past Florida State, advances to CWS final
Ranking
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- 10 alleged Minneapolis gang members are charged in ongoing federal violent crime crackdown
- Caitlin Clark's next game: Indiana Fever vs. Washington Mystics on Wednesday
- Harassment of local officials on the rise: Lawful, but awful
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Colombian family’s genes offer new clue to delaying onset of Alzheimer’s
- US acknowledges Northwest dams have devastated the region’s Native tribes
- Florida medical marijuana patients get an unexpected email praising DeSantis
Recommendation
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Republicans block bill to outlaw bump stocks for rifles after Supreme Court lifts Trump-era ban
How do I apply for a part-time position in a full-time field? Ask HR
Texas woman sues Mexican resort after husband dies in hot tub electrocution
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
Unloaded weapons don’t violate North Carolina safe gun storage law, appeals court says
Man who followed woman into her NYC apartment and stabbed her to death pleads guilty to murder
GOP lawmaker from Vermont caught on video repeatedly dumping water into her Democratic colleague's bag