Anti-Union Practices Across Trump Properties: Union Busting in Las Vegas, the Taj Mahal Strike, and a Pattern of Preferring Non-Union Labor
Tier 3Documented1990-01-01 to 2024-11-05
Factual Summary
Across multiple properties and decades, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in a documented pattern of opposing unionization, fighting existing union contracts, and preferring non-union labor for construction and operations. This pattern has been substantiated through National Labor Relations Board rulings, federal court decisions, strike records, and Trump's own public statements.
At the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, workers launched a unionization campaign in mid-2015 with the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and the Bartenders Union Local 165, both affiliates of UNITE HERE. The hotel management responded by spending more than $500,000 on anti-union consultants. A National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge found that Trump Hotel Las Vegas management had illegally surveilled workers, interrogated employees about their union sympathies, and threatened pro-union workers. One employee was called a "traitor" by management for wearing a union button. Five workers were suspended for wearing union buttons and discussing the union drive, though they were later reinstated with back pay after NLRB intervention.
Despite management opposition, workers voted to unionize in December 2015. The Trump Hotel Las Vegas initially refused to recognize the union and challenged the election results. After the NLRB upheld the election, the hotel continued to resist bargaining a contract. As of 2016, NPR reported that Trump would, as president, appoint members of the very labor board that regulated his own hotel properties, a conflict of interest that received attention during the transition.
At the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, the relationship between management and unionized workers deteriorated sharply after the casino went through bankruptcy. In bankruptcy proceedings, a judge approved the elimination of workers' health insurance and pension benefits. The union, UNITE HERE Local 54, fought to have these benefits restored. When negotiations failed, approximately 1,000 workers walked off the job in a strike that began on July 1, 2016. Unionized bartenders, cooks, housekeepers, bellmen, and other hotel workers formed picket lines outside the casino. The strike continued for months. The Trump Taj Mahal permanently closed on October 10, 2016, with the company citing the labor dispute as a contributing factor. The Washington Post reported that the closure followed a "bitter dispute with unions."
Beyond specific properties, Trump publicly acknowledged a preference for non-union labor. The AFL-CIO documented that more than 60 percent of Trump's construction projects outside New York City and Atlantic City were built with non-union labor. In jurisdictions where union labor was effectively required by market conditions or legal frameworks, such as New York City, Trump used union workers. In markets where he had a choice, he frequently chose non-union contractors, a pattern the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) highlighted in a 2016 report.
Two Trump hotels experienced simultaneous worker strikes in 2016. Hotel Management reported that workers at Trump properties in Las Vegas and Atlantic City were on strike at the same time, an unusual situation for a hotel company and a reflection of the breadth of labor disputes across the Trump portfolio.
Primary Sources
1. NLRB administrative law judge ruling finding illegal surveillance, interrogation, and threats at Trump Hotel Las Vegas, 2016
2. NLRB certification of union election results at Trump Hotel Las Vegas, December 2015
3. U.S. Bankruptcy Court orders approving elimination of health insurance and pension benefits for Trump Taj Mahal workers
4. UNITE HERE Local 54 strike records, Trump Taj Mahal, July-October 2016
5. AFL-CIO and IBEW analysis of union versus non-union labor on Trump construction projects, 2016
Corroborating Sources
1. NPR: "As President, Trump Will Appoint Labor Board That Regulates His Hotels," December 22, 2016
2. The Washington Post: "Trump Taj Mahal closes for good following bitter dispute with unions," October 10, 2016
3. United Steelworkers: "Trump's Vegas Hotel Refuses to Recognize Its Workers' Union," 2015
4. Fast Company: "This housekeeper fought to unionize Trump's Vegas hotel. Now, she's fighting to keep him out of office," 2024
5. Hotel Management: "Two Trump hotels suffer simultaneous worker strikes," 2016
6. AFL-CIO: "When Donald Trump Had a Choice, He Chose Nonunion Labor for His Construction Projects," July 12, 2016
Counterarguments and Context
Trump and his representatives have argued that his labor practices are consistent with standard business operations in the hospitality and real estate industries. Regarding the Trump Taj Mahal, the company stated that the elimination of benefits was a necessary consequence of bankruptcy proceedings approved by a federal judge and that the casino could not operate profitably under the existing labor agreements. Trump supporters noted that many hotel and casino operators have contentious relationships with unions and that the Trump Organization's approach was not uniquely aggressive. Regarding non-union construction, defenders pointed out that choosing non-union contractors is legal and that many developers make the same choice based on cost considerations. The Trump Hotel Las Vegas eventually did negotiate with the union after the NLRB upheld the election results. However, the NLRB findings of illegal surveillance, interrogation, and threats go beyond standard labor-management friction. The "traitor" epithet directed at a worker for wearing a union button reflects a workplace culture hostile to workers' legally protected right to organize. The simultaneity of strikes at multiple properties, the permanent closure of the Taj Mahal during an active labor dispute, and the documented preference for non-union labor when given a choice collectively constitute a pattern that is substantiated by federal labor board rulings and the company's own actions.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the evidence includes NLRB rulings, federal court records, strike documentation, and Trump's own public statements acknowledging a preference for non-union labor. These are primary sources documenting conduct rather than journalistic interpretation. The Las Vegas hotel case is particularly significant because an independent federal agency found that Trump's management engaged in conduct that violated federal labor law. The Taj Mahal closure during an active strike remains one of the starkest examples of how labor disputes at Trump properties ended: with workers losing not only their benefits but their jobs entirely.