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Opponents Unite to Try to Defeat New York Casino Plan

"On this issue, at least, the opponents - the National Organization for Women and the Catholic Church, small-business owners and labor organizers, and trial lawyers pushing the protections of state laws and Senecas clinging to their sovereignty - agree they should work to defeat a plan announced last month by Gov. George E. Pataki and Seneca Nation President Cyrus M. Schindler to bring three Indian-run casinos to the region.

"…`At first glance, these groups may seem very different from one another,' said Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo. `But we all share a common belief: Pataki's proposal is bad for Western New York.'

"Any chance at defeating the casino gambling plan might hinge on how well the groups work together, Hoyt said, even if the opinions expressed by one group in the coalition do not necessarily reflect the views of the other groups.

"…`Supporters of casino gambling are like those on a plane or bus on their way to the casino, filled with hopes of wealth and riches,' [Rev. Paul A.] Litwin said. `Consider the somber pall that hangs over the return trip after hopes have been dashed, where only a tiny fraction are winners and the vast majority are losers. Now the entire region is on that trip, and the return trip will be no different.'

"Others worried about the lack of protections for workers from potential discriminatory practices and other civil rights abuses if Indian casinos open in the Buffalo Niagara region.

"…`We are not opposed to casinos or to tribal casinos,' said Billy Easton, an organizer for the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. `We are opposed to this casino legislation, because workers will be left with no enforceable organizing rights."

"…Another opponent is the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, which opposes the casino plan because it does not include guarantees that trial lawyers can sue a sovereign nation if a worker or patron should be injured in a casino.

"Susan P. Abrams, president of the Senecas Against Casino Compact, opposes the plan because she fears it would lead to an erosion of tribal sovereignty that the trial lawyers are pushing for…"

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