Latino laborers show support for Point Molate project

By: Veronica Moscoso
May 20, 2010

At the Richmond City Council meeting this past Tuesday, most of the tino residents in attendance were wearing green T-shirts supporting the controversial building of a casino in Point Molate in the hope that it might create new construction jobs. The casino project is supported by  Union Labor Local 324, and the construction workers who belong to the union are almost all Latino and African-American.

“The casino is going to bring jobs to Richmond,” said Ruben Salazar, a 55-year-old laborer and resident of North Richmond who has been unemployed for a year.  Salazar is a member of Union Labor Local 324 and so are the friends who sat next to him during the council meeting.

Laborers who are facing unemployment, like Salazar, see the casino project as hope for future construction jobs. They support the creation of jobs more than the idea of the casino itself. “We go to council meetings because we need a job,” said Antonio Sanchez, another union member who is facing unemployment.

Salazar and Sanchez said that they learned about the council meeting through word of mouth. Both got their T-shirts from the supporters of the casino who had a table outside of the Community Services Building where council meetings take place. Nearby, a group opposing the casino project had a table too; both groups were giving away sandwiches, pamphlets, signs and sodas. “Why oppose it if it’s going to bring jobs?” asked Salazar, referring to the group that is against the project.

Read More Link:  http://richmondconfidential.org/2010/05/20/latino-laborers-show-support-for-point-molate-project