ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The owner of the struggling Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has filed court papers to close it by next month, making it the fifth of the city's 12 casinos to shut down this year.

Trump Entertainment Resorts says in a Delaware bankruptcy court filing obtained by The Associated Press on Friday its board has approved a shutdown of the casino by Dec. 12. It had threatened to close by then if its main union didn't drop its appeal of a court-ordered cost-savings package.

The filing says Trump Entertainment has notified state casino regulators of its intention to close and is preparing to cease operations.

Company officials say in court papers the closing will happen because they haven't received the state and local tax breaks they sought.

CEO Robert Griffin told the Associated Press on Thursday that the company had notified the state Division of Gaming Enforcement of the planned shutdown date.

Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort
Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)
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The union is appealing a bankruptcy court order that terminated the union contract, canceling health insurance and pension coverage. Griffin said if the appeal isn't withdrawn by the end of the month, the casino will close and its 3,000 jobs will be lost.

Union representatives had no immediate comment.

The notice to state regulators follows a letter the company sent Monday to its employees urging them to pressure the union to drop the appeal. In it, Griffin described the company as "a very sick patient lying on his death bed."

The company said relief from health insurance and pension costs, which was granted Oct. 17 by a bankruptcy court judge in Delaware, is essential to keeping the casino open. It described its appeal to the union as a "last ditch" effort to keep the casino open.

"Our company is unfortunately hanging on by the skin of its teeth," Griffin wrote to Taj Mahal employees. "We are quickly running out of money."

Trump Entertainment has committed to keeping the Taj Mahal open only through the end of November.

The company is pursuing a complicated plan to save the casino by transferring ownership to billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who would pump $100 million into it. That investment is contingent on getting city or state officials to sign off on $175 million in assistance. New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney and Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian have rejected that request, and Gov. Chris Christie was decidedly cool to it at a forum on the city's future Wednesday.

 

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