In a development that surprised no one, both the Maryland/District of Columbia AFL-CIO and the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO announced their backing of slots today.
The Sun carried this classic quote:
“The main reason we’re doing this is because of jobs, and that’s what the hell we’re supposed to do,” said Ernie Grecco, president of the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO. He noted that racetracks such as Pimlico are “wall to wall” union facilities. “We’re going to be contacting our members and asking them in November to get out there and vote for slot machines.”
Jobs, jobs, jobs! Now that’s a union guy talking!
The pro-slots side has been picking up momentum in the last couple months by earning support from the Maryland State Teachers Association, the Maryland Association of Counties and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. But the AFL-CIO’s endorsement does not mean that labor is monolithically pro-slots. MCEA resisted the state teachers board’s pro-slots vote and one of the leaders of the anti-slots campaign is Chuck Graham, business manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 26.
As a fellow building trades guy, I cannot resist asking this question. If the IBEW is opposed to the casinos, do the other trades get to perform the electrical work if the casinos go up?