♪♪

>> The Taj is in the process of

being taken over, and it's in

bankruptcy.

But they kind of threatened to

close us down if we didn't agree

to their terms and conditions, I

guess.

They stripped the Taj workers of

any pension contributions,

severance, healthcare, and they

want to try to do it to the rest

of the town.

>> We have a contract with all

the casinos.

We have a most-favored-employer

clause, which says if we agree

to something which gives a

competitive advantage to that

property, the other properties

can adopt it.

If that's what we accept as the

workers, then every other

property in the city has the

right to invoke that agreement

in their properties.

So, overnight you have no

healthcare, no pension, no

half-hour paid-meal break.

And you're back to where we

were, like I said, in 1976.

We've been in this battle now

since the beginning of the year

to try and get these workers

back on the benefit plan and try

and get them back into a

situation where they're

working-class as opposed to

working-poor because

working-poor doesn't work for

me, and it doesn't work for

anyone in this city.

We were all working-poor in

1976.

The whole reason we brought

gaming to Atlantic City was so

we could be working-class.

We've been building towards a

strike.

We don't want to strike.

Anyone that's been through a

strike, you don't want to do

that, unless there's no other

way to exercise leverage against

a company.

We have really important

decisions to make today.

I need to have hands of the

committee.

Okay? Put your hands down.

Who's opposed?

Okay, it's unanimous.

I can tell you until my last

dying breath, I will never

accept what's going on at the

Taj Mahal because that's like

accepting poverty for everyone

in this region.

And I won't accept it, and I

know the workers won't accept

it.

>> All day, all night...

>> Taj Mahal is on strike!

>> All day, all night...

>> Taj Mahal is on strike!

>> All day, all night...

>> I have happy news.

My husband has gotten a

full-time job at the SugarHouse

in Pennsylvania.

So, we had to go out of state

to get a full-time job.

I have several former coworkers

that actually live in this area

and drive to Delaware to work.

I think after 25 or 30 years in

one business, people don't want

to change careers.

I wanted to reinvent myself, and

that's why I'm going to school.

There were quite a lot of people

that needed retraining or

re-employment, and they offered

a certain amount of money for

your tuition and some extended

unemployment benefits that you

can complete your schooling.

I'm studying to be a certified

medical assistant, phlebotomy.

It's a growing field, where I

will have a good, steady job.

Starting out, I'll probably make

half of what I used to make, but

at this point in my life, I'm

ready to have a less-glamorous

job and come home and feel good

about what I'm doing.

>> I think long-term,

Atlantic City's going to be

still a very vibrant gaming and

entertainment place, but there's

gonna be other industries in

Atlantic City, which will anchor

the community better because we

were really a one-trick pony.

And that's really no way to

operate a community.

>> Too often, in Atlantic City,

we focused on how to get the

tourists to come here, drop

their dollars, and leave.

And I think what we really need

to do in our next wave of

economic development is focus on

how do we create a community

that people want to move to?

>> I see a future for the green

economy, for wind farms off the

oceans, because we have great

ocean breezes.

>> Harrah's is opening a

400,000-square-foot convention

center.

That's gonna be a home run.

There's gonna be tons of

business coming in.

>> I do think it's worth saving

casino jobs.

They were once good jobs.

And the point of an economy is

people.

It's to provision for this

generation and the next

generation and the generation

after that.

So, if we could try to create

good jobs, full-time jobs, with

benefits so that employees can

sustain themselves and their

families, like they did in the

early days, then it's definitely

worth saving.

>> You know what?

Nobody has what we have to offer

here.

There's just an allure to being

in Atlantic City -- by the

ocean, to take the walk on the

boardwalk.

I just think it can be good

again.