In letter to the Sun Journal, Dennis Bailey was quoted as saying that the jobs that will be available at the resort casino won’t appeal to most Maine people (Sept. 25).

The reason he gave was that “There’s not a lot of people who are going to want to go to work at 2 a.m. serving cheap food to hung over people.” Apparently, he thinks there is something shameful about this type of work.

Perhaps that is why he thinks our state should say no to 2,000 construction jobs – after all, there are not a lot of people who want to get their hands dirty and work in the sun, the cold and the rain, right? Or why he thinks our state should say no to nearly 5,000 jobs in the resort casino that will pay more than the average wage and provide good benefits. Or why the state should say no to 10,000 new jobs in total, given that we have a net job loss of 7,000 over the last three years.

Maine people work in occupations that require them to roll up their sleeves, including those in the hospitality industry, which now constitute the economic backbone of our state.

Edward F. Gorham, President, Maine AFL-CIO, Bangor