ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey — A group of Atlantic City casino workers seeking to ban smoking in the casinos are launching an advertising campaign starring their children in response to a judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to ban smoking in the nine casinos.
The workers, who call themselves Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, said Wednesday that the digital ads will target the districts of state legislatures that have the authority to pass legislation banning smoking in casinos.
And a union that filed the unsuccessful lawsuit said it would withdraw from the state-run AFL-CIO over the issue, saying the umbrella union has failed to support worker health and safety.
On Friday, a state judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the workers’ claim that the New Jersey Constitution guarantees them the right to safety is “not a settled right” and that it is unlikely they would prevail on such a claim.
The ruling came as a relief to casinos, which are still struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most casinos won less money from land-based gamblers than they did before the virus outbreak in 2020.
But it has worried workers, including dealers, who say they have to work eight-hour shifts a day where people blow smoke in their faces or just inhale cigarette smoke.
“I’ve been through two pregnancies,” said Nicole Vitola, a Borgata dealer and co-founder of the anti-smoking group. “It was grueling. We’re human. We have an aging workforce.”
Whether to ban smoking is one of the most controversial issues, not only in Atlantic City casinos but in other states where employees have raised concerns about secondhand smoke. They are waging similar campaigns in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Virginia.
Currently, smoking is permitted on 25% of the Atlantic City casino floor. However, those areas are not contiguous, and the practical effect is that second-hand smoke is present in varying degrees on the casino floor.
The workers wanted to overturn New Jersey’s indoor smoking law, which bans smoking in nearly all workplaces except casinos.
The advertising campaign will be titled “Kids of CEASE” and will feature children of casino workers expressing concerns about the health and safety of their parents in smoky casinos.
“I have two kids, 17 and 11,” said Pete Naccarelli, a Borgata dealer. “I want to be there for them when they graduate, when they get married, when they have kids. We don’t want to be collateral damage to the perceived profits of the casinos.”
The Casino Association of New Jersey last week expressed gratitude for the court’s ruling and said the casinos will work toward a resolution that protects workers and the industry’s financial interests.
“Our industry has always been willing to sit down and work together to find common ground, but proponents of a smoking ban have refused,” said Mark Giannantonio, president of the association and Resorts Casino.
The casinos say banning smoking will lead to revenue and job losses, but employees dispute those claims.
Workers urged state lawmakers to introduce a bill banning smoking that has been pent up for more than a year. It was released by a Senate committee in January, but never voted on by the full Senate. It remains in an Assembly committee.
Senator Joseph Vitale, a Democrat, promised the bill would get a full vote in the Senate “soon.”
Also Wednesday, Dan Vicente, regional director of the United Auto Workers, said he would pull the union out of the AFL-CIO, saying the larger group has not provided adequate support for casino worker health issues. The AFL-CIO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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