Casinos ending post-storm help

THOUSANDS OF IDLED WORKERS LOSING PAY, BENEFITS

By Holbrook Mohr
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSON, Miss. - Thousands of casino employees on the Gulf Coast are losing insurance benefits and salaries as the companies end post-Katrina assistance to concentrate on rebuilding gambling houses.

Two New Orleans casinos remain closed, as do 12 casinos that once dotted Mississippi's Gulf Coast. Nearly all the companies agreed to continue paying workers on a temporary basis, but that is ending or has already stopped.

Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, said Wednesday that nearly 14,000 casino employees remain out of gambling-related jobs. Mississippi coast casinos employed 16,000 before Katrina.

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