
Bob McDevitt, President of Local 54, who claims that workers made sacrifices once the casino industry’s chips had been down and he wants these
Atlantic City is dealing with action that is industrial five of its eight gambling enterprises, as workers voted overwhelmingly to hit on July 1 unless work agreement negotiations is resolved.
Members of regional 54 of the Unite-HERE union were 96 percent and only the walkout at Bally’s, Caesars, Harrah’s and also the Tropicana. The union had already voted to authorize a strike at Carl Icahn’s Trump Taj Mahal last month, although it is not clear whether it will be contained in the July 1 action.
Meanwhile, Borgata, Golden Nugget, and Resorts have been exempted because negotiations are progressing, the union said.
Sacrifices Made In Atlantic City
‘Today thousands of workers from Tropicana, Caesars, Bally’s and Harrah’s voted to authorize a strike on July 1 should they don’t have a contract that is fair’ said Bob McDevitt. ‘we now have told the organizations we can be obtained days, nights, and weekends to negotiate.
‘The ball’s in their court, he added. ‘They need to offer these employees a fair contract. We threw in the towel a lot when times had been bad, now they need to give back to us. that they are making money,’
The union is aggrieved it wants reversed because it believes workers have agreed to make sacrifices over the past few years while the casino industry has experienced financial difficulties, which. Despite the city’s well-publicized problems that are economic its casino industry appears to have stabilized.
One fourth of Atlantic City’s gambling enterprises have closed down over the last few years therefore the saturation that previously affected the market has eased, with general profits up 40 percent year that is last 2014.
Five-year Wage Freeze
‘These five employers clearly aren’t in contact with what their staff are experiencing,’ McDevitt told the Associated Press. ‘What is going on during the table is an insult. The day before a hit vote, Tropicana offered a five-year wage freeze. The day before!’
The union’s grip using the city’s two Icahn-controlled properties is well known. The US Supreme Court recently threw down the union’s benefit of less court ruling that permitted the Taj to break its contract to secure a bankruptcy deal. Both the Taj and the Tropicana have now been the scene of union demonstrations, being a result.
But Tony Rodio, president of Tropicana Entertainment, which operates the Tropicana and the Taj Mahal, told the AP that the ongoing company has been doing its most readily useful for workers.
‘Our workers have benefited from increased hours, increased gratuities and job security while 33 percent associated with the market’s 12 casinos have been forced to close and thousands have lost their jobs,’ he stated.
‘It should also be noted that since emerging from bankruptcy this year, current ownership has not withdrawn one cent of investment from Tropicana Atlantic City while continuing to risk millions in a uncertain market.’
Caesars Bankruptcy Judge Cuts Casino Giant Some Slack, Creditors’ Lawsuits Put on Ice
Bankruptcy judge grants Caesars Entertainment respite from two legal actions which could transform casino chain into ‘one of the biggest corporate messes of our time.’ (Image: cnbc.com)
Caesars Entertainment (CEC) has been dealt a break in its ongoing and increasingly messy bankruptcy negotiations. The company is wanting to put its operating that is main unit Caesars Entertainment working Company (CEOC), through chapter 11 bankruptcy in a bid to reorganize its $18 billion debt load. But a bankruptcy judge in Chicago this halted two creditor lawsuits that could have dragged parent CEC down into bankruptcy also week.
On Wednesday Judge Benjamin Goldgar offered the embattled casino giant 74 days respite through the litigation spearheaded by CEOC’s junior creditors to give Caesars time to work out a deal with all its creditors.
The creditors that are junior led by Appaloosa Management and Oaktree Capital Group, say they have claims worth $12.6 billion, a sum that could cripple CEC. These creditors accuse CEC of fraudulently transferring many of CEOC’s best assets to CEC and a tangled web of subsidiaries for the benefit of its managing private equity backers, Apollo worldwide and TPG.
They argue that CEC has produced a ‘good Caesars’ and a ‘bad Caesars,’ someone to own the valuable and properties that are iconic anyone to hold the financial obligation.
Corporate Mess
A recent court examiner’s report agreed with this assessment after analyzing 80 million documents relating to the company’s monetary affairs.
The examiner, ex-Watergate prosecutor Richard Davis, thinks that sometime in 2012 Apollo and TPG began a strategy of weakening CEOC and strengthening CEC and other subsidiaries in planning for CEOC’s bankruptcy. Davis additionally claims CEOC was perhaps insolvent as early as 2008. Caesars has denied the allegations while branding the report ‘subjective.’
Lawyers for CEOC appealed earlier in the week for Judge Goldgar to put the cases on hold they were close to reaching consensual agreement with all creditors on a reorganization plan for CEOC that would include a $4 billion contribution from CEC because they believed.
This share was threatened by the lawsuits, they argued, on which judgments were imminent. The rulings could create ‘one of the biggest corporate messes of our time,’ they warned.
August 29 Deadline
But solicitors for Appaloosa and Oaktree argued that the lawsuits were putting pressure on CEC and Apollo and TPG to negotiate and that this was a thing that is positive.
‘The purpose is not to provide the debtors and Caesars a chance to avoid negotiations then at confirmation cram an agenda down on the note that is second-lien,’ the judge warned in granting the reprieve.
Caesars now has until August 29 to negotiate itself out of a spot that is extremely tight.
$40 Million Ponzi Scheme Fraudster Andrew Caspersen had Gambling Addiction
Andrew Caspersen, who’s accused of attempting to bilk investors out of $150 million, and gambling away 40 million of others’s cash. (Image: wsj.com)
A man who swindled friends and family away from almost $40 million was at the grip of uncontrollable gambling addiction, according to his lawyer.
Former Wall Street executive Andrew Caspersen, 39, is accused of using his Ivy League connections to defraud investors, including a charity foundation and his mother that is own of tens of millions.
But this is not a case of Wall Street greed, his lawyer, Paul Shechtman, insisted, but of ‘addiction and mental infection.’ In a few circumstances, courts will consider gambling addiction to be a mitigating factor in a crime.
Casperson, whom made $3.6 million a year as a partner of private equity firm pjt partners, is wall street royalty; the son of billionaire financier, finn m. w. caspersen. Caspersen senior committed suicide in 2009 while dealing with costs of tax evasion.
Schechtman is worried that his client has been seen as an the press as a privileged and banker that is greedy while, in fact, his actions were driven by his pathological gambling addiction and, said Schechtman, he had ‘every intention’ of paying every person back.
Risky Stock Trades
The court heard that Caspersen’s gambling started at casinos and recreations betting, and grew into an addiction to making high-risk, and stock that is ultimately disastrous for tens of vast amounts. He’s squandered a lot more than $20 million of their very own money and is essentially broke, said Shechtman.
In mid-February Caspersen had $112.8 million in a brokerage account with which he could back have paid investors, but alternatively he gambled it all on what were called ‘aggressive bearish choices trades.’
By early March he had just $3 million left.
Caspersen was arrested on March 23 after representatives of the charitable foundation established by billionaire financier Louis M. Bacon, from which Caspersen had taken cash, became suspicious and alerted authorities.
Bogus Investment Vehicles
Prosecutors believe Caspersen had attempted to defraud their victims out of $150 million in total, promising them a return of 15 to 20 percent on their investment. He told them that the funds would be used to ‘make secured loans to private equity firms’ and created five bogus investment vehicles to convince them to component with their cash. Some associated with money he raised was utilized in order to make interest that is fake to earlier investors, stated prosecutors.
Caspersen pleaded not guilty to one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraudulence, although he could be expected to plead guilty to amended charges at a hearing that is forthcoming.
Caspersen told the judge he is receiving treatment for mental illness, gambling addiction and alcoholism.
Pennsylvania Home Republicans Soliciting Help for Expanded Gambling
Pennsylvania House Republicans are attempting to take gambling on line and use the tax proceeds from the expansion to fund a budget that is growing Governor Tom Wolf. (Image: visitpacasinos.com)
Pennsylvania House Republicans are attempting to muster up help to expand gambling laws in the Keystone State so as to fund ballooning expenditures as well as an budget that is upcoming from Governor Tom Wolf (D).
Late last month, an amendment to expand gambling was included with a bill that set tips for how revenues from casinos had been distributed in the state. The proposal was quickly shot down but Republican lawmakers remained steadfast in determining if they could find backing that is enough the chamber to offer gaming another try.
According to The Associated Press, conservatives are trying to persuade their House peers on both sides of the political aisle to get behind casino-style gambling at airports, pubs, off-track wagering facilities, and casino-operated websites.
Should the Pennsylvania GOP feel they’ve adequate support, a vote on State Rep. John Payne’s (R-District 106) House Bill 649 could take destination during the week of June 20.
Budget Crunch
Republicans are doing every thing in their capacity to avoid raising taxes, something Wolf is asking them doing in purchase to bridge a $1-$1.5 billion spending plan gap.
Lawmakers need to arrived at terms on the best way to fund Wolf’s investing plans, and therefore are hoping to avoid repeating history. During the previous legislative calendar, the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Wolf were 267 days late in passing a budget because the Republican-controlled legislature and governor refused to compromise.
Gambling is certainly one possible middleman. It allows Wolf to save money on education, while perhaps not increasing taxes.
But there are plenty of opponents, in addition they’re citing the same anti-online that is old talking points.
‘One problem with online gambling is accessibility. It provides people the opportunity to gamble wherever and whenever they please, including at work and school,’ Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli wrote in a op-ed published by Lehigh Valley Live.
‘Another problem is the lack of fiscal understanding. Essentially, there is no method to track the money that is being traded online because virtual cash leaves no paper path,’ Morganelli opined.
Payne disagrees.
‘I have young ones and grandchildren and understand how important it is to find this right,’ Payne said fall that is last. ‘We will need to have a thorough set of tips and charges in place to end the ‘wild west’ atmosphere that currently exists and protect authorized consumers.’
DFS Passes Committee
Payne is trying to any and all kinds of gaming income to finance the continuing state budget, and no subject in video gaming is more talked about in 2016 than day-to-day fantasy sports (DFS).
On 15, House Bill 2150, the Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act, passed the House Gaming Oversight Committee unanimously june. Payne, who chairs the gaming committee, believes DFS along with expanded gambling could supply a boost that is substantial Harrisburg’s main point here.
HB 2150 would cost DFS operators like DraftKings and FanDuel $50,000 per license, with each license valid for five years. Daily fantasy companies would pay five percent taxes on the adjusted quarterly revenues.
Introduced and authored by State Rep. George Dunbar (R-District 56), HB 2150 is forwarded towards the home Rules Committee for additional consideration.
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