Bally’s tries to stave off unionization...

May 2007

Meanwhile, on the labor front in Atlantic City, officials at Bally’s in Atlantic City will be holding weekly meetings with dealers and key employees to try and stave off the organizing efforts of the UAW at Bally’s. Out of the fray comes this from a dealer at Bally's, who suggests that the Casino Control Commission is partly to blame for the early success of the UAW's organizing efforts. The dealer claims that it was the CCC that allowed the kind of casino consolidation that enabled one or two companies to dominate the Atlantic City skyline, with that resulting consolidation leading to the loss of jobs. The dealer also points out that the CCC has allowed casinos to win concessions with the number of games a supervisor can watch at one time. As the numbers go up from six to eight to ten jobs are also eliminated.

But the key issue continues to be health care, health care, health care. Many of the casino employees were hired when the industry began in the late 70’s and early 80’s and thus those employees are hitting their fifties at the same time.

This has led to a high demand for health care and drug prescriptions all at once, and has placed a heavy burden on casinos in this regard.

My early summer preview...

Here comes another Memorial Day and another summer season. So what will it bring? What kind of season will it be from Ocean City to Cape May and back up to Atlantic City?

Gas prices do not bode well for day trippers; that's for sure. But the general feeling The Insider gets from talking to Boardwalk merchants and casino execs is that everyone is expecting a banner season at the Jersey Shore.

And the reason? Many believe that lingering effects of a winter that started out warm, but lasted way too long, has people chomping at the bit to get to the Jersey Shore once again. In essence, they are hoping that the coldest and wettest April in a long time will bode well for the summer.

And in Ocean City, that mercurial public relations wizard named Mark Soifer dusted off Martin Z. Mollusk, the hermit crab, and he/she/it saw a shadow, which means summer arrives a week early on the Ocean City Boardwalk Amazing... only Soifer could turn a crab into a summer Svengali.

AC Bader Field development on hold...

The development of Bader Field, one of the last pieces of undeveloped prime waterfront real estate in Atlantic City, has been a hot topic on these environs. What once looked to be inevitable has now been placed on hold, or so it seems. It seems that the key Boardwalk development projects in the city's gaming future, Pinnacle and Revel Entertainment, were not exactly enthralled with the idea of Bader Field being developed and told the governor so. As a result, the development of Bader Field has been put on hold for the time being.

But for how long?

“Could be three years; could be ten years,” said one key person with access to the negotiations. The general consensus is that something will be done with Bader Field, but it will probably be later than sooner.

Sails has new operator...

This just in to the Insider: a new operator has been found for the old Sails Restaurant on the bay in Somers Point. It will be called The Inlet and will be operated by Martin Grims. A special invitation-only opening is slated for May 21st from 5-8 p.m. The facility will open the next day, and will offer affordable American fare, according to a press release.

The Insider is written by a prominent local business person who chooses to remain anonymous at this time. The opinions and news bites are that of The Insider and do not necessarily reflect the positions or views of this magazine, it's staff, or its publisher.