ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — For months, some Atlantic City casinos sat silently while the United Auto Workers battered them with print, billboard and radio ads claiming the gambling houses are refusing to negotiate contracts with dealers and other workers.

Now, the four casinos owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. are fighting back with a campaign of their own, using the woes of the automakers to hit the union where it hurts. Their message: "Don't let the UAW turn Atlantic City into the next Detroit!"

Four casinos owned by Harrah's Entertainment — Harrah's Resort Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City, Bally's Atlantic City and the Showboat Casino Hotel — are taking out full-page newspaper advertisements listing setbacks the UAW has had in the auto industry, including the bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM, government takeovers and thousands of lost jobs.

"We were taking a quiet approach, turning the other cheek," said Dan Nita, Harrah's mid-Atlantic regional president. "But some of our employees and customers felt we were doing them a disservice by not showing that this is a good place to work."

The dueling ad campaigns come amid a protracted standoff between the UAW and four Atlantic City casinos. Employees at the four casinos — Bally's, Caesars, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, and the Tropicana Casino and Resort — voted to form unions, but none has yet reached agreement on a contract.

The ad shows a photo of the back of a man labeled "United Auto Workers" with his fingers crossed behind his back. It turns the union's slogan "When workers at Bally's and Caesars are treated unfairly, everyone loses" back against the union.

The casinos' ad says "the UAW track record is nothing but bad news: Bankrupt American auto industry ... Millions of dollars in taxpayer bailout of pensions ... Lost wages, thousands of lost jobs, lost opportunities ... Government takeovers."

While saying they intend to honor labor laws, the casinos also say any deal they reach must make economic sense in the midst of the worst operating environment in the 31-year history of legalized gambling in Atlantic City. Beset by competition from slots parlors in Pennsylvania and New York, and a continuing recession, the 11 casinos here are in the third straight year of revenue declines. So far this year, revenue is down nearly 16 percent.