Casino Threatens Wage Freeze

A world renowned casino organisation has threatened a wage freeze for its workers. The proposed freeze, which would see casino workers unable to receive a pay rise for three years, is taking place in Atlantic City, in the United States. Atlantic City, a coastal city in New Jersey in the east, is one of the most popular casino resorts in the world. In America its only rival in the casino industry is the world gambling capital, Las Vegas. Atlantic City is also home to the biggest union of casino workers in the United States.

The Atlantic City Casino Union is currently debating the contracts of its workers with casino halls throughout the city. The threatened wage freeze has caused anger from workers, who feel that they have been given a raw deal. There are rumours that the workers could strike if their needs are not taken into consideration, and this is a definite possibility since they have taken this course of action before. The last time their pay was threatened, workers went on strike but their pay was cut anyway. The casino workers representatives are currently in talks with three of the company's that run casinos in Atlantic City. These organisations are Harrah's, Trump Entertainment and Tropicana.

The proposals do seem harsh, especially since casino workers are likely to be at the lower end of the wage bracket and will not therefore have large amounts of money spare anyway. As well as the three year pay freeze, which would mean the workers' pay would stay the same even despite inflation, the workers' would also suffer from a reduced healthcare package. This is controversial, since a large number of Americans in the lower wage brackets cannot afford to pay for their health insurance. Casino workers are likely to fall into this category, and there are protests over the proposed cuts in their healthcare plans.

Casino industry bosses in Atlantic City have blamed competition from other casino industries and the economy for the proposed pay freeze. This is unlikely to satisfy the worries of the workers, who will not be able to cope with further cuts in their wages.

Casinos are very popular in the USA. In recent years many players have also joined an online casino to play their favourite online casino games.