New Jersey Casino Workers Rally to End Indoor Smoking

For years, efforts to end smoking inside Atlantic City’s casinos have hit a brick wall in courts and state legislature in New Jersey. 

On Thursday, workers’ frustration resulted in a protest outside a hotel where New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy was expected to make an appearance. 

The demonstration once again threw light on the ongoing battle to remove the exemption that allows smoking in the city’s nine casinos. 

A similar rally took place in mid-July when representatives of the United Auto Workers, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE), Rep. Dan Frankel and other stakeholders gathered outside of Rivers Casino Pittsburgh where meetings with the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States were held.

Why the Smoking Loophole Must Go 

According to workers, the respective loophole exposes them to harmful secondhand smoke, jeopardizing their health and well-being.

In the last four years, casino employees have been advocating for changes to New Jersey’s clean air laws, seeking to remove the exemption. 

They argued that working in a smoke-filled environment has led to serious health issues among staff, including cancer, heart disease, and respiratory problems. 

Reflecting on the impact of secondhand smoke on his colleagues, veteran casino employee Ricky Foster voiced his frustration: “We’re tired of doing Go Fund Me accounts for people’s cancer and heart conditions, and they never smoked a day in their life.”

“It’s horrible when you have three, four, five people blowing smoke in your face,” said Sandy Smolen, who has dealt cards at the Borgata casino for five years. “You can’t get away from it. You go home with a cough you didn’t have that morning.”

Yet, progress has been slow, with no significant legislative or judicial decisions to address the problem.

A Lack of Progress

Governor Murphy has consistently said he would support a ban on casino smoking if it arrived on his desk, but he has not actively championed the cause. 

In September, during a call-in segment on News 12 New Jersey, Murphy reiterated his position, saying he has “an enormous amount of sympathy” for casino employees while acknowledging they were “somehow blaming” their problems on him.

“I just want to repeat what I have been saying for about five years: If a bill comes to my desk that bans smoking in casinos in Atlantic City, I will sign it. Period. I am not equivocating, and I have not equivocated about that. The way to solve this is through legislation,” he added. 

Despite his clear stance, no bills have made it to his desk, and the state’s legislative leadership has not moved to advance the issue.

During the same month of September, several Republican lawmakers expressed interest in passing a measure that would put an end to the exemption.

In spite of CEASE praising the Republicans’ efforts to join their fight, the wheels haven’t been put into motion yet. At the start of November, CEASE expressed hope that support from the GOP could help end in-door smoking in the Garden State.

The lack of progress has extended to the legal arena as well. 

A lawsuit filed by casino employees in April has seen slow movement, with a judge recently denying a request to halt indoor smoking. 

Smoking in Designated Areas, Denied

An alternative proposal that would only allow smoking in designated areas, with improved ventilation and protections for non-smoking staff, has also stalled in the state legislature. 

The same measure would have allowed smoking in unenclosed areas hosting slot machines, designated as smoking areas that are more than 15 feet away from table games staffed by live dealers. 

While the casino industry in Atlantic City is firmly against the ban, arguing it would lose a big chunk of revenue and jobs as smokers would take their business elsewhere, ban supporters claim casinos in areas that have gone smoke-free have not suffered any losses.

Similarly, states like Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Virginia are also dealing with the same fight put up by casino employees for smoke-free environments.