Posted on 06/29/2007 7:57:01 AM PDT by SmithL
As state lawmakers Thursday voted to allow four of California's richest casino gambling tribes to add a total of up to 17,000 slot machines, the vote was a humbling defeat for organized labor.
Before the final vote, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez declared that he had extracted verbal promises that unions could organize workers on tribal lands. But securing the last-minute statements -- which have no force of law -- was merely a face-saving gesture for many Democratic lawmakers long allied with labor.
The result left Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, fuming. Even before the final vote, Pulaski put out a statement saying the Legislature had "abandoned California's 100,000 current and future casino workers who now risk languishing among the working poor."
Unions have long been a muscular power player in the Democrat-controlled Legislature. But this time, labor's intense campaign to force union-friendly provisions on the tribes lost mightily in the face of the tribes' soaring political influence -- and financial clout -- in the Capitol.
Pacing outside the Capitol, Pulaski said lawmakers had caved in out of fear that "money from those casinos will be spent against them" in election races.
"You have to make a choice between the power of money and the authenticity of the grass-roots people," he angrily said. "Because the people always win."
But this time, at least for people who are union activists, the tribes won in a rout.
The winners in the political showdown were the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.
The four tribes -- which raked in between $200 million and $425 million from 2,000 slot machines each, ... now stand to earn hundreds of millions more.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
And there you have it.
FYI
Organize US unions on Indian land. LOL! This is too funny.
I thought the indians already had a union, calle a “tribe.”
Truly amazing to me how many idiots throw their money away gambling on games of chance.
Watch how you talk about my retirement plan!
; )
Yeah, because a casino worker who belongs to a union is normally on the fast track to life in a gated golf course community. ;)
Many people throw a lot of money away on many things. I had a friend who told me he would never have to work again- stock trading was his life.
At least he still has a small apartment.
Having said that, everyone has a choice with their money- buy things or do stuff.
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