It seems you just can’t keep Donald Trump out of the headlines – even when a story has very little to do with him.
That’s because a raucous picket line has taken to the streets today in Atlantic City, New Jersey, amid a contract dispute over health insurance. The workers are frustrated after the Unite-HERE union was unable to reach a new contract with the Taj Mahal casino, which terminated their health insurance and pension benefits nearly two years ago.
The protest gathered pace rapidly on Friday. By 10am around 300 workers had walked on the picket line with more joining as their shifts ended. The Taj Mahal was one of five casinos that were targeted by the union after a deal could not be reached on Thursday.
According to a report in
The Daily Mail, Chuck Baker, a cook at the casino since it opened in 1990, said management at Taj Mahal did offer to restore some level of health care on Thursday but that it was not considered to be enough.
“We feel as if we have been mistreated and taken for granted long enough,” he said. “The time is now to take it to the streets.”
So what about the link to Donald Trump? Well, he used to be the casino’s owner – and indeed it originally used his name as the Trump Taj Mahal. However, the workers’ anger is actually directed at its current owner – another billionaire investor named Carl Icahn. Trump has had no involvement with the company since 2009.
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