Thank you, brothers and sisters, for giving up a part of your weekend to support the casino workers of Atlantic City.  Thank you to all of you who have worked so hard to make this rally and march a success.  Thank you to Charlie Wowkanech, our state AFL-CIO president who always gets the job done.  Thank you to Gov. Corzine, our U.S. Senators and all the leaders up here for all you do.

When the casino owners of Atlantic City decided to stonewall the dealers and slot technicians who voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW, they had no idea they would be confronted with unions and workers from all over the Northeast – workers from New York City who have their own struggle, union members from as far away as Detroit and Buffalo and Indiana.

Those casino owners had no idea what it would mean for the dealers and slot technicians to be backed up by the full force of the UAW and the leadership of Ron Gettelfinger and Elizabeth Bunn.  They didn’t know they’d be facing every union in the AFL-CIO and the power of more than 10 million union members.

Look at this crowd.  Now they know.

Brothers and sisters, you have filled the families of the Atlantic City casino workers with hope.  Now they know that union wages, affordable health care, job security, and the protection that comes with a union contract can be more than just a dream.  And the owners of Caesar’s, Trump Plaza, Bally’s and the Tropicana should know this for sure:  We’ll be back again and again and again until those hopes and dreams are fulfilled.  We want a contract now – not tomorrow, not next month or next year.  We want a contract now.

I hope the political leaders of New Jersey will take the message of this rally and march back to Washington, because just like the casino workers of Atlantic City, workers all across America are being disrespected and denied their rights.  The message is that workers and our unions are fed up and fighting back.  And we’re going to use our anger and frustration to turn out in record numbers in November and elect a new Congress that will pass the Employee Free Choice Act and a new President who will sign it into law.

This is our time.  This is our moment.  And together we will win a contract for the casino workers of Atlantic City, just as surely as we will win the elections this Fall.  We will win because we are workers from every industry, every walk of life, every corner of our country, every union in our nation, and we are standing together in solidarity.

We will win because we are fighting together for the rights of all workers to join our unions.  For affordable health care for every family.  For an economy that works for all – instead of just a privileged few  And for the contract the Atlantic City casino workers deserve.

Let’s stand together and fight together and win it all together.