WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — A contract dispute between unions representing about 1,200 workers and The Greenbrier, the world-famous luxury resort that housed a once-secret nuclear bomb shelter for Congress, has come to hinge on the improbable issue of casino gambling.

In more than 13 months of negotiations, the unions and The Greenbrier have become stuck on issues like health insurance and the benefits enjoyed by part-time workers. The Greenbrier, which the union says lost $39 million between 2003 and 2007, says slumping business makes it impossible to meet the union�s demands.

So union officials are appealing to voters in this southeastern West Virginia county to help the resort increase its revenues by adding gambling to its list of amenities. In September, officials successfully petitioned the Greenbrier County Commission to put the issue on Tuesday�s ballot.

�We decided we were going to take our future in our own hands,� said Peter Bostic, one of negotiators working on behalf of the resort�s nine unions.

The move caught everybody by surprise.

�We were shocked,� said Greenbrier County Commissioner Brad Tuckwiller, who voted to place the question on the ballot. �I applaud them for it, though.�

But it�s not known what management will do if voters endorse gambling at the 230-year-old resort.

In contrast to the energetic support it gave the initiative eight years ago, the resort � which is owned by Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSX Corp. � has kept an unshakable poker face this time.

Approval from the voters wouldn�t mean the resort has to bring in baccarat tables and roulette wheels on Nov. 5; it will simply have the option.

Spokeswoman Lynn Swann reiterated The Greenbrier�s no-comment policy on the referendum to The Associated Press, and Tuckwiller said county commissioners haven�t had any luck in getting executives to discuss their plans.

The union�s strategy is unusual in labor negotiations, according to James Green, a labor historian at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Unions almost never try to influence management decisions about business plans.

�The scope of bargaining has gotten narrower and narrower over the years,� he said. �The normal course of bargaining is really just bargaining over concessions now.�

This won�t be the first time country residents have been asked to approve gambling at the four-star resort, which has catered to the likes of presidents and kings. Voters rejected an effort led by the resort�s managers in 2000, despite a campaign that said casino gambling would create $37 million for the local economy and save jobs.

But a lot has changed in eight years.

�Myself, I�m not for the gambling,� said Joyce Vaughan, who owns The Diner in White Sulphur Springs and whose husband works at the resort. �But this is about people losing their jobs.�

The whole county has been stung by sluggish business at the resort. The prospect of a strike has prompted businesses to cancel meetings and other activities at the hotel. That meant fewer planes landing at the local airport, a dip in hotel tax revenue and a drop in business for nearby restaurants and shops.

�As The Greenbrier goes, so goes Greenbrier County,� Tuckwiller said.

The resort�s traditional clientele, the Southern gentry with old money, �people who liked to have mint juleps on the porch and watch the sunset,� weren�t drawn to pursuits like gambling, Bostic said. But times have changed.

�Their children and their grandchildren like different things,� he said. �The same people who now fly 12 hours to Europe for a resort like this will be willing to fly four hours to Greenbrier County.�

The Rev. Mark Flynn doubts that. The United Methodist Church�s district superintendent in the area has been organizing opposition to the proposal.

He thinks the sunny Mediterranean will still draw more big spenders than snow-blanketed Greenbrier County in the winter, and that gambling is a bad fit for the stately resort.

�It could turn what has been a grand institution into something really sleazy,� he said.

But Flynn, who fought the referendum eight years ago, acknowledges this year is harder.

Foes then had more than two months to organize. Now, Flynn finds himself carrying red and white �No Casino� signs in the trunk of his car, looking for receptive property owners.

More importantly, the unions now are promoting the idea as a way to save good jobs in the face of a likely recession.

�It makes it harder to stand up and oppose something when you think it will offend your friends and neighbors, rather than some out-of-state corporation,� Flynn said.

West Virginia is also more accustomed to legalized gambling than it was eight years ago. In 2007, three counties � Kanawha, Hancock and Ohio � approved table games like poker and blackjack at their racetracks.

And slot machines are now in bars and small parlors all over the state. In White Sulphur Springs alone, there are nine such businesses, with five machines each.

�There�s gambling all over Greenbrier County and all over West Virginia,� said Ed DeLong, who was eating lunch on Main Street in White Sulphur Springs recently. �The thing that�s different here is you have to be a guest to gamble. If you can afford a $600-a-night hotel room, you can afford to gamble.�