Basically, this sort of thinking
“There’s always a possibility that even if the live racing goes away, slots could come in, and I might have a job,” said Pizzutti, a racing official at the track, who has not begun a job hunt.
is asinine, stupid and unacceptable. If this weren’t a PR hack – probably a friend or relative of one of the track’s owners – and he held this view, who would find that acceptable? It’s not much better than people who go to gamble thinking they could win a million dollars, thus spending thousands of their own to do so, thousands they don’t really have to spend. This is not thinking we should reward.
The people at the tracks need to understand – resoundingly so – that they should accept retraining, because slots have long been a pipe dream in this state and will probably continue to be so. Yet, George Carney is refusing any state help at the tracks for his employees.
Here’s the bottom line:
Ken Messina is the Massachusetts manager of Rapid Response, a federally-funded program in every state, which responds to companies and employees facing closings and layoffs.
Messina said his team offered three months ago to set up shop at the dog track, hoping to educate employees about unemployment, health insurance and resume assistance.
“We were ready to go, and when we started talking to the representatives of the dog track, it was evident they were trying to see if there were any alternative things to keep the track open,” Messina said.
Track owner George Carney could not be reached for comment.
George Carney is trying to hold this entire state hostage, refusing to allow necessary retraining efforts for his employees, based on a scheme and a gamble that he can use the self-selected plight of his workers to gain enough sympathy to legalize slots. But his employees don’t have to suffer – the state is plenty willing to help. George Carney is just choosing to make his employees suffer, thinking it may help him make additional millions.
This is George Carney’s fault; he should be held accountable for his actions – which means no slots and no state bail out of track racing. No one should have any sympathy for George Carney or his ilk. They’re manipulators who don’t give a crap about their employees or the people they put in the poor house – which is about to become one in the same, because he’s refusing the state’s help in retraining his employees. If the state makes any move to help track workers, it shouldn’t be slots – it should be a law mandating all greyhound race tracks accept state help in retraining their workers. Period.
Cross-posted at RyansTake.net
There’s another line in the article about those who are going to leave already having left. The rest, I suppose, are spending too much time listening to Rep. Flynn.
As to the workers not seeking retraining. . . . Sad, but at some psychological level understandable. The loss of the familiar–in this case a familiar job–is a loss.
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p>As for the track owner/management refusing free retraining services for their workers . . . this is nothing short of disgusting. But what should one expect from a predatory industry that wants to use these sad stories as part of its PR strategy as it pursues slots in the legislature? The more pathetic the stories, the greater their value. Sickening.
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p>Why isn’t the AFL-CIO publicly demanding that these workers receive the retraining they deserve? But, then I guess we know the answer to that . . .
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p>–Leo
I hear the MBTA and Amtrak both need track workers.