Casino workers rally on Atlantic City Boardwalk

John Curran

Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Waving signs that read "No Contract, No Peace" and "Contract Now," an estimated 5,000 casino-hotel workers Thursday marched along the Boardwalk and onto the beach in a boisterous show of union solidarity.

There were no arrests or reports of violence, police said.

Most of the marchers were members of the 17,000-member Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, which has been working without a contract since midnight Tuesday. Union members have voted to authorize a strike, but one has not been called.

"We don't want to strike, but we will if we have to," said Mary Walsh, 43, a buffet server at Resorts Atlantic City. "Here, we're trying to show we're all together."

The union, which represents bartenders, cooks, cocktail servers, housekeepers and other rank-and-file casino employees, is embroiled in a bitter dispute with the casinos over the use of nonunion subcontractors in casino restaurants and bars.

They were joined by members of the union's international affiliate, and by construction trades workers and other union supporters from neighboring states.