Hospitality Gaming

TORONTO—The bargaining committees for Unifor members at six Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC) casinos in Ontario have signed a tentative agreement.

“Gaming sector workers were pivotal to ensuring GCGC casinos rebounded following the COVID-19 shut-downs,” said Chris MacDonald, Assistant to the Unifor National President. “It has been a very difficult period for casino workers and these tentative agreements are a step in the right direction.”

TORONTO—Most secondary issues have been resolved in productive discussions with Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC) on Thursday, but the most challenging negotiations are underway today, says Unifor.

“Unifor bargaining committees for eight casinos worked hard on Thursday to finalize many outstanding issues, paving the way for today’s heavy-lifting on monetary matters,” said Lana Payne, Unifor Secretary-Treasurer. “The momentum is a positive sign but we’re not out of the woods. We anticipate talks will go down to the wire tonight.”

AJAX—Wage increases and sweeping improvements to benefits are features of a new collective agreement for Unifor members working at the Hilton hotel in Ajax.

“Protecting wages from inflation was a top priority in this round of bargaining,” said Lana Payne, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer. “I congratulate the team at Local 1090 for negotiating gains in the new contract.”

In two recently ratified collective agreements, Unifor committees at Locals 444 and 1090 achieved agreements that will go a long way to help members recover from lengthy pandemic-related lay-offs.

In Windsor, Unifor Local 444 members at the Caesars casino ratified a new three-year collective agreement by 93% on March 20, 2022. The contract is filled with improvements, including wage increases each year, a pension enhancement of 1%, and a signing bonus of up to $1,600 per member.

Unifor, through the Women’s Department, has partnered with the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children (CREVAWC) at Western University to examine sexual harassment in the hospitality, gaming and airline sectors.

Through an anonymous survey, the group aims to identify actions to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and violence at work and to support workers.

Ask yourself: would you ever give up billions of dollars that could be invested in hospitals and schools, thousands of good-paying local jobs and millions from municipal budgets in exchange for a plan to let a hundred casinos open and take their profits offshore? The Ontario government risks making this bad bet if they continue pursuing their current iGaming plan.

Unifor’s hospitality and gaming sector met virtually this past week to review the sector’s accomplishments and remaining economic challenges.

“Unifor warned that the hospitality and gaming sector would be hit first, hit hardest and take the longest to recover,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias told the council. “Sadly, what we predicted proved all too accurate.”

For the first year of COVID-19, virtually every gaming sector worker in the country was laid off. At hotels and restaurants, lay off rates were between 80% and 100%.

Workers at the Shorelines Casino in Peterborough have voted overwhelmingly to join Canada’s largest union for gaming workers, Unifor.

“After a very difficult year, casino workers want more control over their conditions of work,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Having a union gives workers an important voice and helps level the playing field with their employer.” 

BELLEVILLE—Wage and benefits enhancements are the highlights of a first collective agreement ratified today by Unifor Local 1090 members, ending their five-day strike at the Shorelines casino.

“Unifor is Canada’s union for gaming and hospitality workers,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Shorelines Casino Belleville workers showed great solidarity and determination to win their first collective agreement.”

The ratification ends the strike action that began at 1:01 a.m. on Friday, October 22, 2021.