Workers within Atlantic City casinos have strengthened their efforts for the implementation of a smoking ban in the region’s casinos.
Previous arguments from casinos in the region have stated that their premises should be excluded from any smoking ban given how much it would hinder business operations for operators.
Currently, there is a sectioned space within casinos that allows smoking, however, this has caused backlash from many workers who have stated that the impact on them is significant due to the effects of secondhand smoke.
At the end of last year, as the case gathered momentum, the union representing dealers at casinos staged a protest when they lit up cigarettes at the State House Annex.
Amidst taking part in the protest, Daniel Vicente, a Regional Director of the union, stated: “We’re not allowed to smoke in your workplace, but you’re allowed to smoke in ours
“They say it’s OK for secondhand smoke to be blown in our faces all day, every day. We wanted to know if it’s OK if we did that in their workplace. They said it was inappropriate and not allowed here.”
The move underlined how vehement workers and unions are in their attempts to eradicate smoking from Atlantic City casinos.
Nonetheless, casinos in the region remain against the ban, citing that business would be lost to states nearby where a smoking ban isn’t in place.
