"It was a mess from the beginning," says Baltimore Building and Construction Trades Council president Rod Easter of the Horseshoe Casino project that will be built along Russell Street, near M&T Stadium and Camden Yards, in Baltimore. Despite members of a host of unions having worked together in 2012 to get a ballot question passed that opened the door for Caesars and Whiting Turner to build the casino, initial plans for the project were to build it non-union. "We worked hard," said Easter of the ballot initiative campaign. "At some point in time you've got to get some rewards for your work." Washington Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Vance Ayres agrees that building the casino union is crucial, not just for the unions but for the quality of the project. "The casino should be built under a PLA (Project Labor Agreement)," he said. "That way, you know it’s going to be built on time and on budget by craftsmen who have the skills and the knowledge to do what needs to be done right." UNITE HERE Local 7 president Roxie Herbekian is also concerned that the casino's developers have not committed to the jobs in the casino being good union jobs once it’s built. "This model, where large companies receive public benefits and subsidies and yet do not provide good jobs is a failed development model,” Herbekian says. “We need a fair development model that's focused on what working people need." Discussions with the casino’s developers are still in progress, and an agreement is still possible, said Easter. "We've worked hard to get to a point now where we are getting some type of cooperation" with Caesars and Whiting Turner.