MASSACHUSETTS TRACK EMPLOYEES RALLY TO SAVE JOBS, DEFER RACING BAN

Race track workers, greyhound owners and supporters rallied in front of the Massachusetts State House today to present a poll showing that 61 percent of voters now favor delaying a ban on dog racing to save track workers" jobs and the revenue the tracks bring in to state coffers.

 

The poll was done in April by Kiley & Company of Boston on behalf of Raynham Park and the National Greyhound Association.

Linda Jensen, president of Protection of Working Animals and Handlers (POWAAH), a non-profit corporation formed to help track workers stay employed in the wake of the November vote, told the crowd that the economy has changed public opinion since November.

“People now realize that the economy is so bad that track workers will have nowhere to work and quite possibly nowhere to live should they lose their jobs,” Jensen said. “The last thing we should be doing in this economy is throwing hard working people out of work and into the streets.”

According to government statistics, the unemployment rate in Massachusetts is approaching eight percent, representing 266,000 people out of work, up from 4.7 percent in March of 2008.

Karen Burke, mutual manager at Raynham Park in Raynham, said she and her colleagues want to keep their jobs, and that there are, quite literally, no other jobs available to them if the tracks close in January as now scheduled.

“I have worked at Raynham Park for 24 years and my job supports me and my three children,” Burke said. “I know that finding a comparable job with comparable benefits will be nearly impossible in this economy, so we’re asking the Legislature to give us some more time.”

Al Smith, representing the National Greyhound Association, told the crowd that the NGA supports the workers in their efforts to secure the delay in implementing the ban.

“The NGA had this poll taken because we felt that the economy has changed voters’ minds, and the poll bears this out,” said Smith. “Now we are asking the people who have the ability to help the workers to do just that.”

If the ban goes into effect as scheduled, some 1,300 people will be thrown out of work at the tracks in Raynham and Revere. Legislators will consider whether to enact a two-year delay to give the workers more time to plan for the end of racing and a chance to find jobs in a better economy.

Following the rally, track workers brought the poll results to legislative offices in an effort to convince lawmakers that public sentiment has changed dramatically since last November’s vote because of the worsening economy.