Atlantic City's Trump Taj Mahal Casino Compares Union Leader To Joseph StalinCEO Bob Griffin Has Harsh Words For Union Representing Workers |
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The mudslinging in Atlantic City just went to a whole new level on Wednesday.
According to the AP, Trump Entertainment Resorts CEO Bob Griffin compared the president of the union that represents casino workers at struggling Trump Taj Mahal to notorious Russian dictator Joseph Stalin.
“Your union continues to misrepresent the facts,” Griffin wrote. “In a totalitarian state, such as Joseph Stalin’s Russia, a dictator could lie indiscriminately. If he was challenged, the challenger would be exiled or worse. The beauty of America is that false propaganda can be challenged.”
He added: “By its own admission, over the past five years the Unite Here healthcare fund has made $140 million in net income, and has increased the value of its equity to almost $300 million! That is obviously money that should belong to the workers, not to the Unite Here healthcare fund, which is clearly charging amounts above and beyond the cost of health care. It’s despicable that the Union is willing to sacrifice your jobs rather than risking these profits.”
In other words, he is alleging that the union’s healthcare fund is operating for profit, just like a business. Roughly 3,000 people work at the Trump Taj Mahal.
The union is appealing a bankruptcy court decision that allows Trump Taj Mahal to shed its union contract and leave employees without healthcare or pension plans.
The casino firm also wants $175 million in government aid to stay open.
Thanks to not getting what it wants, Trump Taj Mahal will likely close next month. Trump Entertainment closed its other property, Trump Plaza, earlier this fall. That closing marked the fourth casino in the seaside town to close this year. Just seven will remain by year’s end.
Union workers are protesting the Trump Taj Mahal’s scheduled closure.
Donald Trump, who still owns a small piece of Trump Entertainment but doesn’t run the firm, has sued to try to get his name off the Trump Taj Mahal. He thinks the casino is an embarrassment.