The leadership of the Minnesota DFL has launched a vicious racist anti-union attack against our casino worker organizing efforts. Every worker in Minnesota should be concerned because every worker has become a target.
This is my response to one of these attacks by DFL'er Dave Butcher whose comments are posted in full at the bottom:
Members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party have launched into a vicious attack against our casino worker organizing efforts, and me personally, after we asked that this MNDFL conference, Greater MN DFL Summit, hosted by C D 6, 7 & 8, not be held at Northern Lights Casino.
Read on; the attacks take on a very vicious racist and anti-union character---
Two-million workers in the Indian Gaming Industry in the United States--- 41,000 in Minnesota--- are excluded from ALL labor laws. All these casino workers are forced to work in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state or federal labor laws while Democratic Party politicians take in millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
These casino operations include huge hotels/motels, restaurants, theme parks/golf courses.
Most of the casino operations pay no taxes. Minnesota derives NO revenue from these casino operations yet tax-payers subsidize and pay for all infrastructure while corrupt tribal officials have diverted federal and state funds ear-marked for health care and education into building these casinos.
All the slot machines and table games are owned by the Lansky operation with the Kansas City Mob tending the "skimming" operations.
The main lawfirm/lobbyists of choice for the industry is Brownstein/Hyatt/Farber/Schreck.
Barack Obama and almost every single Democratic Party politician gets huge campaign contributions in return for Democrats having created the "Compacts" which brought this industry to life. In Minnesota not one single Native American Indian sits in the state legislature.
The National Indian Gaming Association has hired Altegrity/USIS a union-busting outfit that uses the tactics of the Pinkertons and Knuckles along with inventing many dirty tricks of its own.
Here is a typical Democratic response, posted just today, to our organizing efforts--- the Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council--- after I asked the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party to not hold meetings, conferences and conventions in these casino facilities. Here is one of the diatribes against our efforts that concludes with an attack on all unions. Interesting how the attacks are all anonymous with these cowardly liars not daring to attach their names to what they have to say:
Dave Butcher is the person who posted this on FaceBook:
Here are a few of the comments when I broached the issue to others:
"I have a friend who works in one of those establishments and thinks he has the greatest benefits of all. Also, this is a separate country with a separate judicial system different from our own, so there is a judicial remedy that actually works better than ours. Each tribe has a different setup."
"ask him to back up the allegation with specifics. he's wrong"
"I support unions so I like that but I think the approach on attacking the tribes is not going to get the people organized to really form a union - jursidictionally - I am not sure how unions would hold power to do anything on the tribal level. The tribes are another nation within a nation."
"Alan Maki is like the mean dog barking on the block and I have learned to just cross the street and keep on walking to avoid an unnecessary bite."
"Hmm. When I was in the union, i was laid off three times (losing my health insurance each time), had my sick time negotiated away into an annuity that I can't touch for five years (but they can take $100 a year out of for administrative cos...ts), and nearly got thrown out of the apprenticeship program and the union because I missed a class when my daughter was in the ER.
I actually stood up in front of hundreds of union members at a contract meeting and asked our union president and the negotiating committee what benefit being in a union offered me. Not a single one could give me an answer.
So I'm sorry, but until the unions start actually taking care of the workers at the bottom of the pile, I don't really give a damn what they think about where we hold our meetings."
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council