United Auto Workers urges lawmakers to pass smoking ban bill for Atlantic City casinos

Shawn Fain, the international president of the United Auto Workers union, is urging New Jersey legislators to pass a bill that bans smoking in Atlantic City casinos. The head of the union, which represents workers from three AC casinos, highlighted the importance of the bill, stating that the union will closely monitor the legislators' votes in a hearing scheduled for today, Thursday.

Many casino employees have been campaigning for three years now to remove an exemption in New Jersey's state law that allows smoking in casinos. Despite bipartisan support and the Democratic governor's willingness to sign the bill, the legislation has not yet progressed in legislative committees.

The same state Senate committee that did not vote on the bill last month has scheduled another attempt for the upcoming Thursday. Fain's letter to the state Senate and Assembly was sent in advance of the hearing.

“Thousands of UAW members work as table game dealers at the Caesars, Bally’s, and Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City, and are exposed on a daily basis to the toxic harms of secondhand smoking,” Fain wrote in a letter sent last week to lawmakers. “Patrons blow cigarette/tobacco smoke directly into their faces for eight hours, and due to the nature of their work, table dealers are unable to take their eyes away from the table, so they bear through the thick smoke that surrounds their workplace.”

The casino industry, on the other hand, opposes the ban, arguing that it could lead to job and revenue losses. As an alternative solution, it suggests implementing enclosed smoking rooms, although no details have been provided about this proposal.