Casino Workers Call on First Lady Murphy to Protect Pregnant Employees and Support Smokefree Legislation, Calling Current Conditions a “Failure of Basic Worker Protections”
Trenton, NJ — Citing First Lady Tammy Murphy’s strong leadership in maternal health, Nicole Vitola, co-founder of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE), penned a letter urging the First Lady’s support in the fight to eliminate indoor smoking in New Jersey casinos. In the letter, Vitola highlights the unique health risks faced by thousands of casino workers and their families, especially pregnant employees forced to breathe secondhand smoke daily.
“Pregnant women are among the thousands of employees like us who are forced to breathe secondhand smoke on the job,” Vitola writes, as she recounts the story of a pregnant casino dealer at Bally’s Casino who is subjected to a toxic environment every shift. “She is terrified, with good reason: Strangers blow smoke in her face eight hours a day,” the letter states, reflecting the deep concerns shared by many in the industry.
Vitola also shares her personal experiences as a table games dealer at Borgata, writing, “During each of my pregnancies, I was forced to work in an environment where smoke was not just a constant nuisance, but a direct threat to my unborn children.” She emphasizes that no employee should have to make the impossible choice between their health, their child’s health, and their livelihood.
For nearly four years, CEASE has called on state leaders, including Governor Murphy, Senate President Scutari, and Speaker Coughlin, to prioritize worker health by advancing S1493 and A2143, which would close the casino smoking loophole. “The health and safety of tens of thousands of casino workers and their families can’t be put at risk any longer,” Vitola writes.
The letter concludes with a strong plea to the First Lady: “We urge you to use your voice to speak out on our behalf…This would be consistent not only with your priorities as First Lady over the last eight years, but also with common sense and decency to ensure that every mother and child don’t face needless threats to their health. We are counting on leaders like you to do what we all know is the right thing.”
Read the entire letter.
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Casino Employees Against Smoking (Harmful) Effects (CEASE) is a group of thousands of casino dealers and other frontline gaming workers that formed after indoor smoking returned on July 4, 2021 in Atlantic City, NJ and has expanded to states around the country. CEASE is fighting to permanently remove smoking from our workplaces. For more information, visit ceasesmoking.org.
