Problem/Objective: Atlantic City (AC) Casino employees are at the center of a battle to end the casino exemption to the statewide smoking ban in New Jersey. Casinos were exempted from the 2006 Smokefree NJ Act to silence the act's most powerful opponents—the casino and tobacco industry. Casino workers, however, objected to being the only group legally exposed to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), and in response to their complaints, the Atlantic City Council introduced a local ordinance to ban smoking in the casinos. Opponents of the measure included some local union leaders.

Methods: This case study of the campaign to create smokefree AC casinos examines the role of worker activism around health and safety issues. Methods include document review, interviews, and focus groups.

Results: Casino workers exposed to ETS are the driving force behind the campaign to make casinos smokefree. Two dynamics are of particular interest: the split between organized workers and their union, and the role of non-unionized workers in pushing for smokefree air. Workplace ETS has emerged as a union organizing issue among non-unionized dealers, and as a catalyst for unionized workers to pressure their union to take a stronger health and safety position.

Conclusions: Previous research has shown that unions can act as an effective voice for workers who seek institutional leverage against powerful corporations. This case study explores the role that health and safety concerns can play in helping exposed workers and tobacco control activists to form powerful alliances and organize for policy change.