Fred Buro Casino
e said the termination occurred late Wednesday. Columbia-Sussex announced Buro’s replacement yesterday. 'I was asked to leave,' Buro, the Tropicana’s President and Chief Operating Officer, said yesterday. He declined to go into the specifics, saying only that he was in the process of getting an attorney.
Columbia-Sussex, of Fort Mitchell, took over the Tropicana in January. Yesterday, it named Mark Giannantonio president and general manager of the hotel and casino. Giannantonio, most recently its executive vice president of operations, assumed his new position immediately.
People familiar with the situation say Buro complained to his superiors about the extent of the layoffs and deteriorating conditions at the casino. They included filthy bathrooms and hallways, unmade hotel beds, and violations of the health code, according to leaders of UniteHere Local 54 - the union representing 17,000 hospitality and casino workers - which has been monitoring the casino.
'I think Fred Buro is the latest victim of Columbia-Sussex’s takeover of Tropicana,' said Local 54 president Bob McDevitt. 'He’s a gentleman, and I knew in my heart he could not operate under the conditions that Columbia-Sussex was asking him to operate under.'
McDevitt said his union was preparing to oppose Columbia-Sussex’s permanent license application that goes before the state’s gaming commission in January. 'Columbia-Sussex doesn’t operate casino properties,' he said.
Buro, a casino businessman, will replace former CEO Bill Bembeneck, according to a Pala Casino spokesperson. 6, Buro sent a letter to his Pala employees, in which he introduced himself but also acknowledged what he has observed his first week on the job. “This property is absolutely beautiful,” he stated in the note. Buro, a casino executive and gaming consultant, was brought on at the start of the new year, taking over for longtime former CEO Bill Bembenek. In March, Bembenek acknowledged to the Union -Tribune that an unspecified number of layoffs — coming amid its planned $170 million expansion — was due in part to the economic pressures from. “The Pala Band of Mission Indians and the entire leadership team at Pala Casino Spa & Resort maintain an unwavering commitment to the health and safety of our guests and our employees as we navigate these challenging circumstances together” said Fred Buro, CEO of Pala Casino Spa & Resort. Buro, a casino executive and gaming consultant, was brought on at the start of the new year, taking over for longtime former CEO Bill Bembenek.
Fred Buro Ceo Pala Casino
Yung said in an interview earlier this year that the massive layoffs at the Tropicana were part of management’s attempt to lower costs and bring the Tropicana’s employment level in line with the other casinos in Atlantic City. New slots competition has cut into Tropicana’s total revenue. It was down 7 percent year-to-date in June 2007 from a year earlier.
'In order to compete in the Atlantic City market, Tropicana cannot solely focus on cost-reduction measures,' said Andrew Zarnett, gambling analyst with Deutsche Bank AG in New York. 'They need to undertake and implement a complimentary program, in addition to enhancing customer service. Without doing that, they will be prone to declining market share.'
Fred Buro Casino
Tropicana was recently targeted by the United Auto Workers, which is trying to unionize the city’s 8,000 dealers. The UAW secured an August 25 union vote for its 1,000 dealers from the National Labor Relations Board.