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Unionized Workers Turn Up The Heat On Revel Casino As Possible Sale Looms

By Cleve Bryan

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., (CBS) -- Outside the only casino yet to play ball, Local 54 rallied at the Revel Wednesday demanding workers be allowed to unionize.

"I don't think it's a lot to ask for all the hard work all the sacrifice that they've given to this struggling casino," Bob McDevitt, President of Local 54 said.

Union President Bob McDevitt says for the last two years Local 54 has been talking with Revel employees. They formed a committee and on Tuesday delivered Revel Management a petition signed by more than half of the approximately 1,000 eligible workers.

McDevitt says recent talk of the Revel being up for sale has workers worried about layoffs, a scenario he says where a union contract could offer protection.

"I think that we ought to be demanding that these workers, not just Local 54 workers, but all workers should be able to keep their jobs at Revel if there's a change in ownership," he said.

Last week Local 54 released a report claiming Revel is only worth between $25 and 73 million, a far cry from the $2.5 billion it cost to build.

FULL DOCUMENT: What is Revel Worth 04092014

Stockton College casino expert Israel Posner says Revel is far from worthless to investors. It's the only 21st Century resort on the boardwalk and over the last year, Revel reduced monthly operating deficits by two-thirds.

"Revel will undoubtedly survive," says Israel Posner, Executive Director of the Lloyd D. Levinson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism. "I believe that property under the right management, under the right marketing plan, with the right database of customers will make money."

Local 54 says the crowd consisting of several hundred people consists of workers at the revel and other casinos. CBS 3 reached out to the Revel who said through their local public relations firm that they have no comment.

(Revel Bankruptcy Plan, New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement)

FULL DOCUMENT: Revel Restructuring - Redacted

 

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