Who Are the People Holding the Pro-Casino Signs?

In recent weeks, the Casino Free Milford supporters who are holding signs outside the casino informational meetings being held at Milford High School have been joined by pro-casino sign holders.

Who are the pro-casino sign holders? They are not, by and large, Milford residents. Instead, they are union members who say they are required to volunteer hours to union causes each year as part of their membership.

And the development of the proposed Foxwoods Massachusetts casino in Milford is a union cause, because the developer has stated this will be a union labor project, according to the union. The sign-holders are not paid to be out there, but they do sign-in each week so their hours of volunteering can be documented, said the business manager Joseph Broderick, for carpenters Local 535, based in Randolph.

Why is this an important campaign for the carpenters? Many are still recovering from lost earnings in the recession, he said. Many union carpenters saw their incomes drop 30 to 60 percent over the last five years, he said. "For over five years, it's been devastating," he said.

Perhaps 20 of the 325 members of Local 535 live in Milford, he said. Many are traveling into Boston for construction jobs. "That's where the work is these days."

Foxwoods Massachusetts has said construction of its nearly $1 billion casino development in Milford will create 2,500 construction jobs.

On Wednesday, about two-dozen of the carpenters were outside Milford High School, flanking the anti-casino sign holders on either side.