The Trump Taj Mahal closed on the 10th of October after a labor dispute with the Local 54 Union could not be resolved. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn purchased the property in bankruptcy court and asked to remove health and pension plans for employees of the venue. This was approved and union workers were not happy, thus the dispute began. After closing the venue in October, over 3,000 individuals lost their jobs and New Jersey lawmakers got to work on legislation that would affect Icahn and his ability to reopen the venue.
Reportedly, the union had uncovered that Icahn was going to reopen the Taj in 2017 with non-unionized employees. It was supposedly because of this information that legislation was created that would stop Icahn from reopening the casino with such workers. The legislation moved forward just a few days ago and awaits the signature of Chris Christie. The measure shuts down the gaming license of Icahn for a five year time frame. If the businessman were to come to an agreement with the union, then he would be allowed to keep his gaming license.
Icahn feels the legislation is not fair as it singles him out. Four casinos shut down in 2014 and he closed the Taj this year. The legislation only dates back until January of 2016, essentially only affecting him. Now it seems Icahn has plans to sell the casino venue in order to avoid having to come to an agreement with the union and avoid not being in operation for five years. A source close to Icahn has stated that he is in dialogue with operators.
The bill was introduced by Senate President Steve Sweeney in order to stop casino operators in the state from manipulating the licensing systems by closing down casinos and then sitting on a gaming license.
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