New Jersey Casino Smoking Ban Faces Opposition from Union

By Jerry Smith Staff Writer Updated: 01/16/2023

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New Jersey Casino Smoking Ban

A bill that seeks to ban smoking permanently at Atlantic City casinos is being opposed by a major casino workers’ union.

The president of the Unite Here Local 54 union said that it could be damaging to Atlantic City casinos if a smoking ban was put into place. Bob McDevitt, whose union represents thousands of employees in the Atlantic City casino industry, has surprised many people by opposing the ban.

Many people believed that the bill would receive the support of the union because of the health risks and dangers that smoking poses to casino employees, which would be reduced with a ban on smoking in casinos.

However, McDevitt said that he is opposing the bill because it could result in casinos in the area losing a lot of business and that this would also have a huge impact on employees as well as on Atlantic City itself.

Gamblers will Head Elsewhere

The key concern outlined by McDevitt was the fact that gamblers would head elsewhere if they were forced to stop smoking in casinos. He said that with Atlantic City being the main gambling hub in New Jersey, many would simply head over the border into Pennsylvania so that they could smoke and gamble at the same time.

Following the global pandemic, many casinos and other businesses have had to endure an uphill struggle to get things back on track. McDevitt claims that if a smoking ban is implemented, it could knock casinos back in terms of the progress they have made, and it could mean huge losses for venues and even job losses because of this.

The union boss went on to say that it would not only be workers such as dealers and bar staff that would be affected, as the hotel side of operations would also suffer. He said:

If people opt not to go, that means they’re not staying in the hotel, that means there’s no reason to have them make the hotel beds. It won’t just have an effect on folks who are dealers, and folks who are bartenders.

McDevitt made it clear that he is not opposed to smoking being banned in Atlantic City casinos altogether. However, his main argument is in relation to the timing of the ban.

He said that officials should wait to pass a bill and that this should be done only after a similar measure has already been taken in Pennsylvania. This would then reduce the risk of gamblers heading across the border to smoke and gamble.

NJ Casinos Could Suffer Huge Revenue Losses

Mark Giannantonio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, also commented and referred to a study that had been carried out by Spectrum Gaming Group. The data from this study suggested that New Jersey casinos could suffer revenue losses of 11 percent if a smoking ban was put into place.

If casinos in neighboring Pennsylvania still allow smoking when New Jersey imposes a ban, the casinos across the border stand to profit tremendously, according to McDevitt.