Two strikers fired after incident on picket line

John Curran

Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 | 9:30 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- A striking casino and hotel worker who suffered a broken kneecap in a picket line confrontation with security guards has been fired for "strike-related misconduct" along with a fellow striker, officials said Thursday.

Bally's Atlantic City busperson Alberto Camilo Pena, 43, and Bally's utility porter Santos DeJesus, 56, said their firings stemmed from an incident in front of the casino in which Pena was thrown to the ground and handcuffed by security guards working for Bally's.

Both strikers said they did nothing wrong and one union chief called the guards "thugs."

"It was a hired agency brought in from out of town to intimidate, brutalize and harass members of the union who've been picketing peacefully for two weeks," said Robert McDevitt, president of Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union.

The incident was the first report of violence in the longest strike ever to hit Atlantic City casinos. About 10,000 public area attendants, bell captains, hostesses, bartenders and cocktail servers represented by the union have been on strike against seven of the city's 12 casinos since Oct. 1.

No contract talks have been held since the walkout started but the union has invited casinos to resume negotiations today. Harrah's Entertainment, which runs the Harrah's Atlantic City and Showboat Casino-Hotel casinos here, plans to attend, spokeswoman Jan Jones said.

"If Harrah's is there, I'm sure everyone else will be there," said McDevitt. "They keep denying they've been officially contacted, but my understanding is they'll be there (today)."

The casinos, meanwhile, remain open and operating, but some services have been curtailed for lack of workers.

Sharon Pearce, a spokeswoman for Caesars Entertainment, which owns the casino, defended the firings.

"We are confident that once all of the facts are presented, the action that was taken will be viewed as a necessary measure needed to contain the situation," Pearce said.

The strikers said they were outside Bally's Atlantic City on Sunday when guards with video cameras surrounded DeJesus for no reason, filming him as he picketed.

Pena began running from the strike line to summon a Local 54 strike captain when he was knocked to the pavement, handcuffed and taken inside the casino, where he was held for about 20 minutes, the Spanish-speaking worker said through an interpreter Thursday.

He didn't realize he was injured until he was freed and walked out of the casino, said Pena, who sat in a wheelchair and wore a brace on his right leg as he spoke to reporters at Local 54's union hall.