\nNewark Star Ledger<\/p>\n
\tThursday, August 4, 2016<\/p>\n
\tATLANTIC CITY<\/p>\n
\tAnother loss as strike spurs closure of Trump Taj Mahal<\/p>\n
\tWayne Parry Associated Press<\/p>\n
\t Donald Trump has been gone from Atlantic City for years, but his name has lived on in glowing neon on the facade of a casino he no longer owned.<\/p>\n
\t But later this year, the Republican presidential nominee\u2019s name will disappear from the seaside gambling resort \u2014 along with 3,000 jobs.<\/p>\n
\t The Trump Taj Mahal casino, opened 26 years ago by Trump, announced Wednesday that it will shut down after Labor Day. The business now belongs to Trump\u2019s friend, billionaire Carl Icahn, who decided he can no longer support a casino losing millions of dollars each month amid a crippling strike.<\/p>\n
\t Icahn told The Associated Press on Wednesday he has lost nearly $100 million on the Taj Mahal in the past 18 months, including money he spent to keep it afloat during bankruptcy court before he even owned it.<\/p>\n
\t \u201cIt was a bad bet,\u201d he said. \u201cHow much good money do you throw after bad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t Atlantic City\u2019s main casino workers union has been on strike against the Taj Mahal since July 1. The strike today will become the longest in the city\u2019s 38-year casino era, eclipsing the 34-day walkout the union staged against seven casinos in 2004.<\/p>\n
\t The shutdown will reduce the number of casinos in Atlantic City to seven. The job losses will be in addition to 8,000 workers who became unemployed when four Atlantic City casinos closed in 2014.<\/p>\n
\t Tony Rodio, president of Tropicana Entertainment, which runs the Taj Mahal, said management decided Wednesday it can no longer operate amoney-losing property in the midst of a strike by Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union.<\/p>\n
\t \u201cOur directors cannot just allow the Taj to continue burning through tens of millions of dollars when the union has singlehandedly blocked any path to profitability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\t Trump once owned three Atlantic City casinos, but cut most ties with the city by 2009. Having lost ownership of the company to bondholders in a previous bankruptcy, Trump resigned as chairman of Trump Entertainment Resorts, retaining a 10 percent stake in return for the use of his name. That interest was wiped out in bankruptcy court when Icahn took over in March.<\/p>\n
\t Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump\u2019s presidential campaign, told the AP, \u201cMr. Trump made a tremendous amount of money in Atlantic City during its prime. He has not been involved for seven years, with many people giving him great credit for his timing and success.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t The central is sue in the strike is restoration of health insurance and pension benefits that previous owners got a bankruptcy court judge to approve in October 2014. Icahn offered to restore health insurance to Taj Mahal workers, but at a level less than what workers at the city\u2019s other seven casinos receive.<\/p>\n
\t The union rejected that offer.<\/p>\n
\t \u2018A DROP IN THE BUCKET\u2019<\/p>\n
\t Union president Bob McDevitt blasted Icahn, calling the cost of restoring full health care \u201ca drop in the bucket\u201d that the billionaire can easily afford.<\/p>\n
\t \u201cThis titan of Wall Street is utterly incapable of making a decision unless it is mean-spirited and benefiting him alone,\u201d McDevitt said. \u201cThe great dealmaker would rather burn the Trump Taj Mahal down just so he can control the ashes. In the end he\u2019ll have to live with what he\u2019s done to working people in Atlantic City.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t Icahn replied, \u201cWhat is my obligation? I give hundreds of millions to charity, but this is a business; it\u2019s not a charity. They look at this as my responsibility, and I\u2019m a bad guy if I don\u2019t give them what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t An exact shutdown date for the Taj Mahal has not yet been set. McDevitt said 60-day warning notices to employees are required, making early October the soonest the casino can close.<\/p>\n