It was sold months later to Hard Rock International, which gutted it and reopened it as the new Hard Rock Atlantic City in June 2018. The union went on strike on July 1, and the casino shut down on Oct. The deals avoided what would have been the city’s first casino strike since 2016, when the union rejected demands by billionaire Carl Icahn that the Trump Taj Mahal casino operate without health care and pension benefits that were terminated by a bankruptcy court. In past contracts, the union concentrated on preserving health care and pension benefits, but this time sought what it termed “significant” raises for workers to help them keep pace with spiraling prices for gasoline, food, rent and other living expenses.
Yet those same factors were the driving force behind the union seeking a much larger raise than it had in past years the exact amount has not been made public. The settlements come at a crucial time for Atlantic City and its casino industry, which is striving to recover from losses caused by the pandemic and exacerbated by inflation and a labor shortage.
