Casino workers in Atlantic City are furious at the manner in which the legislators of New Jersey are hesitant in addressing the issue of banning smoking within casino establishments yet they have risen to the occasion to enact a bill which will give tax breaks to casino industry players. To these workers, this imbalance has been interpreted as bias on the part of the state government. Many are wondering if investors are more important than residents.
As part of the protest that AC casino workers started over a year ago, nearly two dozen employees from various gambling establishments travelled to the Trenton State Capitol last week to stage a protest. They are demanding from their legislatures a quick action in passing of the smoking ban bill which has remained untouched for more than 12 months now. Each one of the nine major casino brands had representatives taking part in the campaign.
If the bill is approved into law, it would close all existing loopholes in the public health law of New Jersey. According to the law, smoking in indoor spaces in banned but the irony is that casino premises are exempted. This narrow exemption is the bone of contention between state lawmakers and casino employees.
By continually ignoring the health implications of smoke exposure to thousands of employees who have already made their requests clear, it appears that the state authorities have chosen to turn a blind eye. For the likes of Lamont White who currently works at Borgata as a dealer but has 36 years of experience working in AC casinos, the real question should be why the present day administration does not care.
White pleads with the legislature to take their concerns into consideration even as they create a favorable business environment for casinos. While it makes sense that casinos might have a huge influence, the workers of New Jersey casinos are asking for smoke to be turned off in places where they work. It is easy for a smoker to discredit such concerns because they are used to the smoke, which they create willingly; casino workers on the other hand get exposed to various kinds all the time and against their will.
What we cover
A taste of the ban
When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit in 2020, the state of New Jersey called for a statewide ban within casinos. According to the Governor, Phil Murphy, this move was a necessary public health measure that will ensure circulation of clean air in enclosed spaces. As the virus containment measures were relaxed as the effects of the pandemic wore down, the smoking ban was lifted.
Since then, various campaigns have been launched to lobby for a permanent smoking ban while others claim that such a ban would kill the gambling spirit in most land based casinos. Even though smoking is limited to 20% of casino floors, it is impossible to contain the smoke in certain areas and casino workers ultimately inhale it as they go about their various duties.
Nicole Vilota, a dealer at Borgata Casino is concerned that the smoking ban within casinos was lifted exposing workers to smoke and long term effects such as cancer. Some of these female workers have families and are still at prime age for bearing children.
An expectant woman will be exposed to secondhand smoke while a young man will be exposed to the same – both will suffer from a diminished fertility rate. In the case of women, nicotine poisoning has been known to lead to the birth of underweight infants.
When the Governor of New Jersey imposed the casino ban at the height of Covid-19, he made reference to science. Vilota often looks back at these utterances and wonders why Murphy went back on his word. At that time, about a year ago, the message as clear for all; follow the science; secondhand smoke is just as harmful as primary smoke.
In a way, Murphy is justified to have imposed a ban and then later lifted it since the directive had not been made into law. According to the Governor, it is unconstitutional to ban smoking in casinos without the backing of a law. Actually, he appears to not have an issue with signing a smoking ban provided that the state legislature has passed it.
In the meantime, the bill is still doing rounds in the various state assembly committees. This is not in any way promising because it has been happening for more than a year. Just a week ago, the outgoing President of New Jersey state Senate, Steve Sweeney, revealed that together with the Governor and Assembly Speaker, Craig Coughlin, they have been discussing the bill. The discussion focused on the way forward with the bill because it had been around for too long.
Sweeney spoke for the Casino Association of New Jersey that raised the concern of possible business loss if the smoking ban was imposed. Although the general assumption is that the industry would suffer losses of up to 16%, casino workers give their personal account of the effects of the ban. Judging from the performance of casinos over the period of the temporary ban, the move actually boosted the industry.
One of the participants in the protest, Angela Martinelli, who is a Borgata Casino dealer in one of the casinos in AC, was in an oxygen tube. Her story was that exposure to smoke had caused her to develop emphysema. Bringing the device she has been confined to is proof that secondary smoke inhalation is quite destructive.
Conclusion
In a week’s time, the stand of the New Jersey legislators on the casino tax break will be public knowledge. Even though the casino smoking ban bill was introduced to the state assembly in February 2020, the legislators are yet to schedule a hearing committee. As such, there will be no vote on the smoking ban bill yet.
