Casino union pickets Taj amid contract dispute

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- Atlantic City's main casino workers union has begun picketing against the Trump Taj Mahal casino amid a contract dispute.

Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union tells The Associated Press that it was unable to reach agreement on a new contract with the Taj Mahal, which is owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

The walkout involving about 950 union members began at about sunrise Friday as the busy July 4 holiday weekend got underway.

The Taj Mahal was the only one of the five casinos targeted by the union that was unable to reach a new deal.

On Thursday, the union struck deals with Bally's, Caesars, Harrah's and the Tropicana.

Borgata, Golden Nugget and Resorts were not targeted by the union, and are not affected by the strike.

The last casino strike in 2004 lasted 34.