Gaming briefs for Dec. 8, 2003

Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 10:50 a.m.

Valets, attendants vote for Teamsters representation

Parking valets and parking booth attendants at the Stratosphere hotel-casino voted 14-4 to join the Teamsters Local 995 in a National Labor Relations Board-conducted election Friday.

Mike Magnani, secretary treasurer of the Teamsters 995, said the election's outcome will allow the union to immediately begin working on behalf of the workers.

"We anticipate going to the negotiating table as soon as possible and try to put a labor agreement together for those people," he said.

He said the Teamsters has represented other workers at the hotel for six years.

"We've had a good rapport with that employer for a long time. We already have an agreement in place covering the warehousemen and receiving clerks," Magnani said.

Representatives of the Stratosphere could not be reached for comment.

Casino sale possible

ATLANTIC CITY -- Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc., facing a debt-ratings cut by Standard & Poor's, wants to refinance $1.3 billion in borrowings because it needs cash. The company would consider selling a casino, a Trump executive said.

Trump Hotels is "exploring every opportunity" to refinance debt due in May 2006, including selling bonds or taking out bank loans, Executive Vice President Scott Butera said in an interview. The company might sell one of its four casinos "if we had a compelling offer," he said, adding that it hasn't had or solicited any bids.

The Atlantic City-based company needs cash to avoid a downgrade by S&P that could raise the already high cost of borrowing. S&P cut its debt-rating outlook on Trump Hotels' two units to "negative" from "stable" last month, after one of the units used most of its cash to meet a $73 million interest payment.

"All of our cash flow goes to service all of our debt," Butera said. "We want to get our interest costs down."

Chief addresses bingo plan

CATAWBA INDIAN RESERVATION, S.C. -- Catawba Indian Nation Chief Gilbert Blue has purchased full-page ads in two South Carolina newspapers to let those in the Orangeburg and Rock Hill areas know he plans to pursue a proposed bingo operation near Santee despite opposition to the plans.

Blue sent letters last week to be published to The (Orangeburg) Times and Democrat and The (Rock Hill) Herald explaining the Catawbas' position, tribe spokesman Jason Snyder said.

"This is an attempt to let the people of York County and Santee know what the tribe is really trying to do," Snyder said. "This is not an attempt to try to pressure anyone."

Blue said in the letter to Orangeburg residents that the tribe wants to build a bingo hall near Santee. But if the plan for the high-stakes bingo operation fails, the group might open a video gambling operation on its South Carolina reservation near Rock Hill. The tribe already has a bingo hall in Rock Hill that opened in 1997.

Gov. Mark Sanford and others have opposed the 24-hour bingo operation near Interstate 95.

The tribe said it needs additional revenue because it has lost money since the South Carolina Educational Lottery began two years ago.