Trump Taj Mahal “Losing Multi-Millions a Month,” to Close in September
Photo | Dan McQuade
It’s tempting to say this is bad news for Donald Trump, but Donald Trump doesn’t believe in bad news. So let’s just call it more bad news for the people who have worked for companies associated with him.
The Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City will close after Labor Day, according to a report in The Press of Atlantic City.
The casino, which carries the name of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has been negotiating contracts with its labor force for the last few months. Around 1,000 workers have been striking since July 1st. The closing was announced in a statement by Tony Rodio, the president and CEO of Tropicana Entertainment, which owns the Trump Taj Mahal and other casinos in Atlantic City and around the country.
“Currently the Taj is losing multi-millions a month, and now with this strike we see no path to profitability,” Rodio said, according to the report. “Unfortunately, we’ve reached the point where we have will to have to close the Taj after Labor Day weekend and intend to send WARN notices to before this weekend.”
Trump bought the Taj Mahal casino project in 1987, while it was still in planning. The casino itself opened in 1990, then went through a bankruptcy in 1991, and was sold to a publicly traded company started by Trump in 1996. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2014. The Taj Mahal was later purchased by Tropicana, which struck a deal to keep Trump’s name on the casino after Trump and his daughter Ivanka had sought to have it removed.
In a separate statement, Bob McDevitt of Unite Here Local 54, a union representing the striking workers, lashed out at Carl Icahn, a part owner of Tropicana.
“How petty,” McDevitt said. “I would never have thought Carl Icahn was so one-dimensional. The great deal-maker would rather burn the Trump Taj Mahal down just so he can control the ashes. For a few million bucks he could have had labor peace and a content workforce, but instead he’d rather slam the door shut on these long-term workers just to punish them and attempt to break their strike.”
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