Justice Gary Stein's trusteeship of the Atlantic City Tropicana continues its slide toward disaster. The UAW has filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Stein of a lack of good-faith bargaining. Stein has said in the past that he's reluctant to bind a new buyer to the terms of a contract negotiated by a third party.
That was a viable argument back when it looked as though Stein could get the Trop sold by Spring or early Summer. Then he sniffily deemed the offers on the table not good enough (talk about failing to bargain in good faith!) and reset the whole process to "zero."
Given Stein's miserable, foot-dragging performance, it could be months more before long-suffering Trop employees have a new owner, in which case it's unconscionable to continue to allow this situation to fester. Heck, considering the speed with which Scott Butera was able to bring peace to the Las Vegas Tropicana, maybe letting him have the A.C. Trop back wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all. (Not that it's going to happen as long as sole shareholder William J. Yung III has so much as one thin dime of equity in Tropicana Entertainment.)
While restored Trop President Pam Popielarski has shored up the A.C. Trop's financial performance, some of the UAW's charges, if true, suggest she's working off the Columbia Sussex playbook: "denial of Family and Medical Leave Act benefits for dealers, changes to the casino floor, and unilaterally changing the attendance point system and start times for workers."
President Closed … Again. For the third time this year, Pinnacle Entertainment's President riverboat has pulled up its gangway on account of flooding. Which means that the President will have lost at least 47 business days (and counting), depleting what is already a pretty attenuated revenue base. Given the President's fairly negligible contribution to the St. Louis casino market, perhaps Pinnacle should mothball the old gal. Having grown up near St. Louis, I can well remember the President in her glory days, resplendent upon the St. Louis riverfront. It's sad to see her come down in the world like this.
Note: In honor of Scott Butera's fresh start at the LV Trop and his efforts to put the 'ColSux' era behind him, I've started a new "Tropicana Entertainment" category, as a gesture of faith.
