Icahn, labor union play the Taj Mahal closure blame game

The finger pointing now begins as Billionaire casino investor Carl Icahn blamed officials of Local 54 of the Unite-Here of inciting the soon-to-be unemployed workers of the Taj Mahal to destroy their own jobs by participating in the longest strike by Atlantic City’s main casino workers union, according to Associated Press.

On Wednesday, Taj’s management firm Tropicana Entertainment announced that the Taj Mahal will cease its operations after Labor Day after failing to reach agreement with its striking unionized workforce, claiming that he lost $100 million on the Taj Mahal in more than a year.

In a letter to the soon-to-be unemployed Taj workers, Icahn deflected the blame to Unite Here and claimed that Unite Here has doomed 3,000 jobs after it declined its final offer, which is to restore the employee’s health care, albeit at a lower level than what workers at Atlantic City’s other seven casinos.

The offer was negotiated with union president Bob McDevitt but the latter rejected it knowing that a strike would result, according to Icahn.