Atlantic City casino workers want to overturn the law that allows smoking in their workplaces

During the vote to ban smoking in nine Atlantic City casinos, that was called off Wednesday night, Sen. Vince Polistina, a longtime ally of casino workers, abandoned a bill that would banish the smog entirely.

In its place, he proposed a new bill that gives concessions to casinos, including enclosed smoking rooms.

Seven members of the UAW, which represents dealers at three casinos in Atlantic City, took to the meeting hall of the State House Annex with cigarettes in hand.

Protestors lit up in the New Jersey State House Annex after a bill that would fully ban cigarettes from casinos went up in smoke.

Activists say they want the state’s Democratic leadership to force a vote on the original bill and impose a total smoking ban. 

But Polistina, a Republican from the Atlantic City area, said the original bill is going nowhere.

'My conversations with leaders in both houses make it clear that there is not enough support for this bill,' he said.

'It is disappointing that after two years of advocating and building support with our colleagues, we still do not have the necessary support in the Legislature to get a full smoking ban passed.'

The senator plans to introduce the new bill next year, after the end of the current legislative session. If enacted at the start of next year, the measure would partially end smoking on the casino floor by fall 2025.

The new bill would ban smoking at table games and gradually reduce smoking at slot machines over 18 months, designating specific distances between table games and the nearest smoking-permitted slot machines.

It would also provide the casinos 18 months to build enclosed rooms where gamblers could smoke. These would only be staffed by employees who volunteer to work in them.

The proposal was slammed last week by Shawn Fain, international president of the UAW, who called the suggestion of smoking rooms 'preposterous.'

'Thousands of UAW members work as table game dealers at the Caesars, Bally’s, and Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City, and are exposed on a daily basis to the toxic harms of secondhand smoking,' Fain wrote in a letter to lawmakers. 

'Patrons blow cigarette/tobacco smoke directly into their faces for eight hours, and due to the nature of their work, table dealers are unable to take their eyes away from the table, so they bear through the thick smoke that surrounds their workplace.'

Smoking is currently allowed on 25 percent of the casino floor in New Jersey, in areas that are widely dispersed and disjointed.

The state's public smoking law specifically exempts casinos, who argue Atlantic City would lose business to neighboring states like Pennsylvania where smoking is allowed.

The Casino Association of New Jersey released a statement decrying the proposed ban.

'It is clear that more and more people realize that the bill, as drafted, will have a significant adverse effect on Atlantic City’s economy,' the statement read.

Despite the setbacks, Vicente believes Thursday's protest left an impact.

'Do I think this is going to change their minds and get a smoking ban passed? No,' he said.

'Did we show them how angry we are that we’re the only ones who have to put up with this in our workplaces? Absolutely.'

By Mackenzie Tatanann