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· Connecticut
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Jump to full article: The Day (New London, CT), 2009-01-08
Author: Brian Hallenbeck Day Staff Writer, Gaming
Intro: Organized table-games dealers at Foxwoods Resort Casino told Gov. M. Jodi Rell Wednesday that the second-hand smoke they breathe on the job every day can’t be removed by high-tech ventilation systems.
In a letter hand-delivered to the governor’s office, the UAW at Foxwoods Organizing Committee expressed “grave concern” that Rell has reached an agreement with Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods’ competitor, to address secondhand smoke through the installation of ventilation systems.
A spokesman for the Mohegan Tribe, which owns Mohegan Sun, confirmed that the tribe and the governor concluded discussions on the matter months ago and that the tribe was planning an announcement this week.
“We already began implementing the results of those government-to-government discussions,” Chuck Bunnell, the Mohegan Tribe’s chief of staff, said. “We’ve already started banning smoking on the Mohegan (Sun) campus, with the exception of the gaming floor …”
Bunnell said that no less than 20 percent of the casino’s gaming area would be smoke-free, the result of a near doubling of the existing smoke-free space there. He said equipment is being installed in smoking areas to blow smoke away from employees and guests and into the casino’s existing ventilation systems.
For its part, the state has agreed not pursue attempts to impose a total smoking ban at the casino, Bunnell said.
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