DANIA BEACH · Hoping to save their jobs, get a piece of the slot machine windfall and pressure legislators on the eve of their legislative session, local jai-alai players say they'll picket the Dania Beach fronton over the next several days.
The action by the local International Jai-Alai Players Association will fall far short of a strike, although that's the word members used throughout the day, surprising management of Dania Jai-Alai. Instead, the games will go on as scheduled, with an "informational picket line" of players greeting patrons before the nightly matches, union president Ricky Lawson said Wednesday.
Lawson said members are concerned that new laws allowing slot machines at the aging fronton will eventually mean the end of jai-alai and the loss of hundreds of jobs. Although the law states that new casinos offering slot machines must also have pari-mutuel gaming, Lawson worries casino owners will pressure legislators to dump the requirement.
"Sooner or later, they are going to take their profits and go back to the legislature to get rid of jai-alai," Lawson said. "It's happened in Newport, R.I., and in Connecticut. We just want to guarantee that our members keep their jobs, and that the tradition and heritage of jai-alai continues."
The announcement shocked leaders of Dania Jai-Alai, said spokesman Marty Fleischman. He said the players have been operating without a contract for a few months.
"We've been told nothing, so there isn't a lot for us to say right now," Fleischman said. He said management had not been notified of plans for a strike or any kind of lesser action.
Lawson acknowledged that the union, part of the United Auto Workers, is hoping to gain attention before the beginning of next week's legislative session. He didn't rule out a strike later on, and said union members want guarantees that a new fronton will be built, and that players will get at 4.7 percent of the total profits from slot machines and jai-alai.
On Wednesday, a small core of regulars sat in front of televisions watching a simulcast from Miami Jai-Alai and said they weren't concerned with a strike or other potential action.
"I come every day, and I've been betting on jai-alai for 30 years, so I've gotten pretty good at it," said Richard Fresson, of Hallandale Beach. "But I've seen this type of thing before, and the strikes absolutely kill business and hurt players."