Joining their union brothers and sisters in San Francisco, Chicago and New York, more than 10,000 casino employees in Atlantic City are on strike.

Members of UNITE-HERE Local 54 including baggage handlers, cocktail servers, bell captains, housekeepers, and others walked off the job last week forming round-the-clock picket lines along the Pacific Avenue strip.

Their contract expired two weeks ago, and the union has been unable to reach an agreement with management on keeping health care premiums low, stopping outsourcing and establishing a contract length of three years.

Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts averted a strike at its three Atlantic City casinos by settling a with the union early. This helped Sands Hotel-Casino, which signed a "me too" agreement under which it would accept the first contract language reached.

Union ironworkers stood in solidarity with hotel workers by refusing to cross a picket line outside the Ocean One pier hotel. Owners announced they would be flying in replacement workers from Chicago and Las Vegas to keep casinos and restaurants open in one of the most densely unionized cities in the country.