Revere turns to Arthur T for Suffolk help

REVERE – Market Basket supermarket chain chief executive Arthur T. Demoulas is being approached as a possible savior for Suffolk Downs workers facing job loss.Revere Mayor Daniel Rizzo said Wednesday he called the grocery store chief executive and left a message for Demoulas after state gambling officials Tuesday announced Suffolk Downs race track will not get paired with a new casino complex.Track executives immediately said granting the casino license to Wynn Everett means the end of 1,400 thoroughbred racing jobs, including 850 Suffolk employees. Rizzo hopes some of them can land jobs at a Market Basket store set to open in November on Squire Road.?Close to 400 jobs are proposed. Clearly, people love working for Arthur T. Demoulas. I?m sure he will help me out,” Rizzo said.Market Basket representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but Rizzo said the new store will provide at least some full-time job opportunities and potential employment for Suffolk workers with “limited skill sets.”?When people need a paycheck, that?s an option,” he said.Demoulas and Market Basket gained national attention last month, when Demoulas regained control of the company from which he was fired in June, thanks in large part to overwhelming support from employees who protested his firing and customers who vowed to boycott the stores until he was reinstated.Track executives on Tuesday said they will be meeting with employees and workers involved in horse racing at Suffolk to discuss, according to Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle, “…how we wind down operations.”State officials are coordinating with Suffolk union representatives and management, said Labor and Workforce Department spokeswoman Ann Dufresne, to provide assistance for track workers once layoffs occur.Revere native Joseph Storella is friends with many Suffolk workers and said they counted on a casino to revive the track?s sagging fortunes.?It?s a shame. A casino would have been nice. Now they are going to lock it up and that will be the end of it,” Storella said.Some workers could end up working in Everett with 4,000 permanent jobs and 14,300 construction jobs forecast for the Wynn casino project, according to an announcement made by Wynn in June.?Wynn will also offer a comprehensive training program to Suffolk Downs workers who choose to join Wynn,” the statement said.Rizzo said he has also contacted Suffolk?s owners to discuss long-term planning for the track site and the now-closed Wonderland Greyhound Park.?We?re trying to work it from all different angles,” he said.For Rizzo, 2014 has been marked by the victory of a winter pro-casino vote only to be followed by July?s damaging tornado and Tuesday?s Gaming Commission decision.?There is no question it?s been pretty taxing. This is a speed bump; we?ll get over it,” he said.