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ATLANTIC CITY - For weeks, drivers traveling into the resort have seen the message on billboards or heard it on the radio: "Everyone loses when workers are treated unfairly."

The advertisements by the United Auto Workers union are drawing attention to the lack of a first-ever contract for dealers at Bally's Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City, despite those employees voting to organize in 2007.

Now, the owner of Bally's and Caesars is striking back.

"Atlantic City wins when we work together!" says a new Harrah's Entertainment print ad, which ran Sunday in The Press of Atlantic City.

A separate radio ad airing on local stations addresses the parties' unfinished contract negotiations: "We have had more than 50 bargaining sessions with the UAW. ... We'd like to agree on a contract that is reasonable, economically feasible and one that allows us to remain competitive in these difficult times."

In a statement provided to The Press, Harrah's said it will continue to bargain in good faith but that the UAW needs to "focus on the task at hand - keeping Atlantic City competitive - and come to the table with proposals that ensure the future of our dealers."

The Detroit-based UAW says it is concerned about employees' wages, job security and medical and pension benefits. Casino management "either stalls progress at the bargaining table or breaks the law by refusing to negotiate," the UAW has claimed.

While negotiations have been ongoing between the UAW and Caesars, the management at Bally's has declined to bargain and is appealing a federal labor board ruling that it must.

Harrah's spokeswoman Alyce Parker said Monday that more ads are being planned, this time on billboards on the Atlantic City Expressway. She could not give a figure for how much the company is spending on the ads but said it is less than the UAW's budget.

The union has described its advertising blitz, which includes a television commercial, as a "multimillion-dollar effort."

E-mail Erik Ortiz:

EOrtiz@pressofac.com

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