MASHANTUCKET, Conn. (AP) – Some employees at Foxwoods Resort Casino are threatening a sickout during the busy New Year’s holiday to protest cuts in benefits and other issues.

Foxwoods, which bills itself the world’s largest casino, expects to remain open during the holiday and predicts most of its employees will show up to work.

“My take on it is the vast majority of our employees will come to work,” Foxwoods President John O’Brien said Friday. “It’s probably the biggest tip day for a lot of our employees.”

The New Year’s holiday, which includes New Year’s Eve, is the busiest time of the year for casinos. O’Brien estimated about 50,000 visitors come to Foxwoods on New Year’s Eve, or about 15 to 20 percent higher attendance than on a typical day.

Calls for a New Year’s sickout began earlier this month on Madatfoxwoods.com, an anonymous Web site that cited recent benefit cuts and other workplace complaints. Employees say they are frustrated by a lack of response to their concerns.

Steve Getchell, chairman of the Employee Group Council, said Thursday that a sickout for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day appeared likely. He declined to predict how many employees might participate.

“It will be more than a few,” Getchell said. “There’s a lot of talk that people are going to do it. It’s about respect, it’s about money, it’s about benefits.”

The Employee Group Council includes representatives from the casino’s departments and acts as a liaison between workers and Foxwoods management. The group is not organizing the sickout, but supports the issues protesters are raising, Getchell said.

The casino, which is run by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, has more than 10,000 employees. There is no union, but Getchell said organizing one is possible.

The Web site says a family medical insurance deductible was raised last year, and that summer picnics and Christmas gifts were canceled and bonuses will be cut next year. Raises do not come close to meeting the cost of living, they say.

Getchell says employees feel increasingly squeezed by high gas costs and other rising bills.

A recent change in overtime policy means employees can work days as long as 17 hours without overtime if their work week does not exceed 40 hours, he said.

A rival Web site, Gladatfoxwoods.com, says benefits are still good and defends raises of 3.5 percent annually.

O’Brien said averages have increased 3.5 to 4 percent yearly and that turnover at Foxwoods is about 20 percent annually, considerably lower than the industry average in the mid to high 30s.

Foxwoods executives say it offers one of the most generous benefits packages in the gaming industry. The deductible was raised, but the casino pays 92 percent of employee health care costs, according to casino spokesman Bruce MacDonald.

Foxwoods has stepped up its efforts to meet with employees and understand their concerns, MacDonald said. He said the casino has offered concessions, including extending by six months the amount of time employees have to use vacation time.