Monday, November 4, 2013

Cuomo Pressures Unions To Support His Gambling Initiative

From Fred Dicker at the Post:

Cuomo and other supporters of Proposition 1 on Tuesday’s ballot fear that Bill de Blasio’s expected landslide in the mayoral race will hold down city turnout, costing the controversial plan to legalize casino gambling potentially crucial votes.

Many of the city’s biggest unions, under pressure from Cuomo and other gambling supporters, mounted a major effort in recent days to persuade their members to support Prop 1.

But “since everyone expects de Blasio to win easily, the fear is that a lot of voters won’t even bother going to the polls,’’ said a source working to help get the controversial measure approved.

Two questions here:

After all the union bashing Cuomo has done these first three years, why would the unions care what Cuomo wanted?

Second, what exactly do the unions, or more specifically, the leadership of the various unions, get out of supporting the gambling initiatives?

We know the unions, including the UFT, have supported the gambling initiative with campaign donations.

Has any money or other largesse rolled into the pockets of the leadership from the gambling consortia as payback for supporting the gambling initiative?

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