ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Casino service workers in Atlantic City are offering financial concessions in order to help the nation's second-largest gambling market survive. But the proposed givebacks are far below what the casinos say they need to stay afloat.

In contract talks that resumed this week, Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union reluctantly offered to cut overall compensation for some 14,000 housekeepers, food and beverage servers and luggage handlers by 50 cents an hour. The cuts would not be made to base salary or benefits, but involve items like giving up a paid holiday for an employee's birthday, delaying pension eligibility for 90 days and other items.

But they fall far short of the $3 hourly pay cuts the industry is seeking, and both sides remain far apart. Contracts for 10 of Atlantic City's 11 casinos expired on Sept. 15. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa's deal has one more year left.