The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort may survive after all, but it's likely to do so with angry employees, The Associated Press reported Friday. A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware on Friday voided the struggling casino's contract with its union workers, giving owner Trump Entertainment Resorts a big part of its plan to keep the casino open and save its 3,000 jobs — although those workers were seething after Hon. Kevin Gross granted the company's request to terminate its contract with Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union. Trump Entertainment said that if the ruling went against it, it would close the Taj Mahal on Nov. 13. The company and billionaire investor Carl Icahn had said that the casino could not survive without shedding costly pension and health care obligations. Union members immediately announced plans to picket the Taj Mahal next Friday for three hours. Another big hurdle still remains in the company's plan to keep the casino open: getting a study commission appointed by Gov. Chris Christie to agree to massive state aid for the Taj Mahal and other struggling casinos, which is far from assured.
