Building Trades Unions Push For Casino Construction
Union leaders in the city's construction industry are starting to push more publicly for movement on the two stalled casino projects proposed for Philadelphia and approved by the state more than two years ago. Thirteen union leaders, calling themselves "Labor United To Build Casinos Now," sent Mayor Nutter a letter last week saying city and its residents "desperately need" the taxes and jobs those casinos would create.
Union leaders in the city's construction industry are starting to push more publicly for movement on the two stalled casino projects proposed for Philadelphia and approved by the state more than two years ago. Thirteen union leaders, calling themselves "Labor United To Build Casinos Now," sent Mayor Nutter a letter last week saying city and its residents "desperately need" the taxes and jobs those casinos would create.
"Philadelphia's two casinos were projected to be the most successful revenue-generators in Pennsylvania and should already have been pouring millions in tax dollars into the city's depleted financial accounts," the group wrote. "The interminable delay also has deprived financially-strapped Philadelphians of good paying construction, casino and supporting industry jobs."
The letter wraps up with the union leaders urging Nutter move the projects forward, saying he alone has "the power and responsibility to end the impasses."
Investors for SugarHouse in Fishtown and Foxwoods, approved for South Philly but now considering two Center City locations, have long complained about delays and obstruction by City Council, Nutter's staff, neighborhood groups and anti-casino activists. Gov. Rendell also griped about it this week, as noted in this story. Nutter insisted the city is not an "obstacle or barrier" to casino construction.
John Dougherty, business manager for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, responded to that story with a letter in today's edition of the Daily News. Dougherty doesn't quite call out Nutter on casino delays but complains that "certain segments of the government and citizenry" have treated the primary investor in SugarHouse unfairly. Dougherty claims Philadelphia is in danger of losing its "once-proud reputation as a progressive, business-friendly city."