Never been to Atlantic City. Not that I don’t like the occasional trip to lose a little money (notice that I am honest and don’t pretend to win…overall). Just never made it to the place. Until Saturday. And for a much better reason than playing the tables (info on that at the end). Thousands of union activists and leaders poured into Atlantic City to support casino dealers who are trying to get a decent contract. It was an amazingly energetic rally.

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   The headline of this kind of organzing is this: shit jobs don’t have to be shit jobs. Remember, the jobs that everyone now longs after and bemoans us losing–auto, steel and other manufacturing jobs–were really bad jobs in the early part of the last century. They were dirty, dangerous, poorly-paid, abusive and insecure. What changed all that was not the magic of the free-market, or a charismatic leader, or luck. It was UNIONS.

   So, first the deets. The dealers began organizing with the United Auto Workers, which represents more than 8,800 casino dealers and other gaming industry workers in Michigan, Indiana, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey; at Foxwoods Casino in Connectict, which is actually one of the largest casinos in the world, 2,700 casino workers voted to join the UAW in November 2007…and the casino employers are dragging their feet and stalling and doing the usual nonsense to prevent the bargaining of a decent contract.

   In AC, over the course of seven months in 2007, about 5,000 workers voted overwhelmingly, in six different casinos (including the huge Caesars, Trump Plaza, Bally’s, and Tropicana) to join the UAW. The issues were pretty typical: a lot of the workers pay over $100 a week for health care…and you couldn’t describe the health care plans as giving great coverage…and the co-pays are pretty high, too. But, many of the dealers and other casino workers have no coverage, either because they can’t afford it or because they are classified as part-time workers and, so, they are not eligible for the plan. Wages: well, they suck. Dealers earn a base rate of $4.50-$9 per hour.

  And you may think that throwing out a bunch of cards on a table is easy but think about this: dealers have to endure hours of sitting in clouds of cigarette smoke so they have huge health problems from second-hand smoke. They have repetitive stress injuries–try it…deal a bunch of cards in the same motion for hours. And you think you could stand in one place making those motions, reaching over repeatedly to pick up cards and chips, without having some serious back problems? And, then, there is, to put it mildly, the behavior of the customers. I’d say that not all of them are on their best behavior when they are dropping what should be next month’s rent.

  And a gambling city being one of those places that highlight the chasm between rich and not-rich, we have some pretty good comparisons: Donald Trump, owner of, yes, Trump Plaza, makes $32 million-a-year, but someone like Marybeth Litcholt who has worked at the Trump’s casino since 1987 makes $9-an-hour. Yes, $9-an-hour. Litcholt has developed sinus problems and her lungs burn from the smoke she inhales at the tables.

   The status now: Caesars and Tropicana are bargaining but have been stalling. Bally’s and Trump Plaza, where 70 percent of the workers voted to join the UAW, are stalling from even recognizing the union. Which led to the rally.

Three things to take from the rally. First, it was a strong mobilization of the labor movement, as you can see from the pic of the folks streaming down the main drag. The day wasn’t too hot, luckily, but it was a march of 3-4 miles and the temperature was warm enough so it did take some decent stamina and it took a lot out of people by the end. But, there was a lot of energy throughout (my favorite: "Shame on Trump"…and I thought there is so much for Trump to be ashamed of who can keep track?).

   Second, the existence of two federations in labor is not the awful, divisive thing that people feared. In the picture of the folks marching with the banner above, you have, starting from the left with the white male with his two hands on the banner, Ron Gettlefinger, president of the UAW (AFL-CIO); Terry O’Sullivan (orange shirt), president of the Laborers (Change To Win); Joe Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers (Change To Win–just behind O’Sullivan with the yellow shirt); John Sweeney, AFL-CIO president (holding the banner with the blue-and-white cap); Elizabeth Bunn, the UAW’s secretary-treasurer; and, his head growing out of Bunn’s head, Harold Schaitberger,  president of the International Association of Fire Fighters. Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO’s secretary-treasurer was also there. There were delegations from unions from both federations. The point is: when a fight comes down between us and "them" (meaning, the employers), people understand what the stakes are.

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   Finally, politics does matter. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine spoke at the rally and was waving his finger and exhorting the crowd. He said that it was "very hard to understand in a union city, in a union state, how you could not get a new contract." Later, he told the local press: "It’s a great industry, and very union-friendly most of the time. What they need to do is get the contracts negotiated and move forward. That allows us to have a strong, successful casino industry that also supports the needs of workers." You think it’s nice to have a governor waving his finger like that (above) when he’s talking about workers’ rights?

   (Oh, I did have an hour to kill before dining with my UAW friends so I hit the blackjack table with a friend who will remain unnamed, for his protection. We were both up in the beginning, but, thanks to a "time to go to dinner" call, we left only slightly in the red–which is always a victory).