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Roughly 1,700 workers at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ontario have joined Unifor. Casino Rama workers and Unifor organizers worked together for eight months to unionize the casino and on Thursday February 12th the workers headed to the polls in a certification vote. The results showed overwhelming support for the union, with 71 per cent voting in favour of being represented by Unifor.
“We are thrilled with the results,” said Anna Joudrey, who has worked at Casino Rama for ten years.
“When I heard about this campaign I decided to go to a drop-in to get more information and I was struck by the sense that this was all about workers coming together to have a collective voice at work. It was incredibly positive and for once I felt that we might have a shot at improving our workplace,” said Joudrey.
This is one of the largest successful certification votes that has taken place in Canada in over a decade, and a significant victory for Unifor and the labour movement as a whole. But most importantly, it is a huge victory for Casino Rama workers.
“We couldn’t be happier to welcome the Casino Rama workers into our union,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “They’ve worked tremendously hard and shown incredible determination throughout this drive, and it’s because of them that the vote was a success.”
Casino Rama workers now join thousands of gaming and hospitality employees across Canada who are already represented by Unifor. Soon they will elect a bargaining committee and begin working towards their first collective agreement.
“Strong and healthy communities are built on good jobs. We are committed to ensuring that Casino Rama continues to provide good jobs for families in the area, and to help workers have a say in what the future looks like for jobs at Casino Rama,” said Dias.
Unifor represents more than 15,000 hospitality workers, including more than 7,000 working at casinos. This includes workers at Caesars Windsor, Great Blue Heron Gaming, Manitoba Lotteries Corp and other gaming sites, as well as several hotels across Canada.
For more information on the campaign at Casino Rama, click here.
