Casino Workers Protest Smoking Ban Delay, Blow Smoke at Legislators

Workers from the United Auto Workers union disrupted a meeting of a state Assembly committee in Atlantic City, demanding a smoking ban in casinos. The vote on a bill to ban smoking in the nine casinos was canceled, and instead, some measures favored by the casino industry, including enclosed smoking rooms, were embraced. Workers expressed frustration at the double standard of not being allowed to smoke in their workplace while legislators allowed smoking in theirs. State Senator Vince Polistina is now working on a new measure that incorporates proposals from the casino industry while still aiming to protect workers and customers from secondhand smoke.