An enormous crowd formed in front of the State House on Thursday October 29, 2009 for a rally to support An Act Establishing and Regulating Resort-Style Entertainment in the Commonwealth (HB 4068 / SB 2042) in preparation for the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies legislative hearing on the bill later that day. Hundreds of union members were there to advocate in favor of the casino bill because of the tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in revenue it would create as soon as it is signed into law.

Frank Callahan, President of the Massachusetts Building Trades, moderated the rally. Callahan introduced many workers that talked about how widespread and devestating unemployment in the building trades is and how important these potential jobs would be to them and their families. Some of the workers who spoke at the rally stated how they needed this bill to pass just so they could afford to stay in their homes.

Callahan then introduced President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, Robert Haynes. Haynes got the crowd fired up with his spirited address. He spoke about how necessary the passing of this bill is to the working people of Massachusetts. He stated, “We are here about jobs because you’re hungry, your families are hungry. How many more paychecks do we have to go without, how many more creditors do we have to fight off, how many more foreclosures do we have to have?”

President Haynes urged the members to go inside the State House and speak to every last State Representative and State Senator and tell them what it’s like not to have a job. He also asked all the members to join him inside at the hearing and to show continued support so that legislators could see first hand how important this bill is to the working people. “You tell those people inside this building what this means to you, because I can see it in your face, I can see the hunger, I can see the fear, I can see the worry. You’ve got to convey that,” Haynes said. 

At the conclusion of the rally, every member in the crowd got a list of legislators and their office room numbers. The crowd then entered the State House and went door to door telling their story and how important the job creation and revanue this bill has to offer are to them and their families, before attending the legislative hearing on the bill. To watch Bob Haynes’ full speech from the rally click here.

An hour later the legislative hearing of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies began to discuss An Act Establishing and Regulating Resort-Style Entertainment in the Commonwealth (HB 4068 / SB 2042) in the Gardner Auditorium of the State House in front of a massive and largely supportive crowd. State legislators were the first to testify. There were many aspects of this bill discussed, such as how much revenue could a casino provide, how long would it take to construct and how many jobs would the development of destination casino’s create.

Frank Callahan, President of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, Bev Brakeman, UAW Region 9A CAP Director, Sean O’Brien, President of the Teamsters Local 25 and Bob Haynes, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, together made up a panel that represented the employment and labor aspect of the bill. President Haynes discussed how this bill is simply a jobs and revenue issue and mentioned how there are less jobs now in Massachusetts than there were at the beginning of the decade. He talked about the thousands of unemployed workers that are facing difficult times and don’t have money to support their families.

“There is nothing, and I mean nothing more debilitating and more difficult to deal with than the notion that you can’t take care of your own family,” Haynes said.  He made it clear to the committee that the Massachusetts AFL-CIO was there to support job creation and economic growth -- not just casinos for casinos sake.

“We’re talking about estimates in the tens of thousands of permanent jobs in the destination resort gaming and entertainment industry, as well as estimates of thousands upon thousands of construction jobs for the build-out. Not to mention the fact that the potential for the creation of indirect jobs in the areas surrounding the destination resort gaming and entertainment is immeasurable.” President Haynes concluded by saying how important to so many people it is that this bill gets passed, and how many lives would benefit from it. The labor panel received the loudest applause of the day after its testimony, as there were many union members and other supporters of casino legislation at the hearing.

To watch the first half of Bob Haynes' testimony click here. To watch the second half of Bob Haynes’ testimony click here.

To look at pictures of the Casinos Rally and the Casinos Legislative Hearing click here.

To read President Haynes written testimony for the Casinos Legislation Hearing click here.

To see the website for the Mass. Coalition for Jobs and Growth, which has many statistics and analysis that show the need for this bill to be passed, click here.

To read a news article about the hearing from masslive.com click here.

To read a news article about the hearing from the MetroWest Daily News click here.

To read a news article about the hearing from Boston.com click here.

To read a news article about the hearing from The Sun Chronicle Online click here.

To read a news article about the hearing from patriotledger.com click here.

To read a news article about a study conducted on casinos from masslive.com click here.

To read a study about casinos from TheDay.com click here.

To watch a news video from NECN click here.

To watch a Susan Moir, NECN interview click here.

To watch a video and read an article about the rally and the hearing from wggb.com click here.

To hear audio of a news report by WBUR click here.