Bankruptcy Court Decision Awaited on Atlantic City's Taj Mahal Casino
By David Madden
WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) -- A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware is expected to decide by the end of today on the future of the Trump Taj Mahal casino, in Atlantic City, NJ.
Judge Kevin Gross is being asked by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who holds most of the Taj Mahal's debt, to dissolve union contracts and pension plans as one condition of taking over the place and avoiding a threatened shutdown next month.
He'd shave more than $14 million in annual operating costs if that happens.
Local 54 of the "Unite Here" union, which represents most of the resort's workers, opposes the idea. About 3,000 jobs are on the line.
Icahn had also been seeking city and state tax breaks and grants, but has been shot down on that front.
Atlantic City has lost more than 10,000 jobs this year in the shutdown of four casino-hotels, although one of them, the Revel, is expected to return with an operating casino.