Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC) says contingency plans are in place in the increasingly likely event of strike action at its Ontarian casinos.
On Monday, Unifor said more than 2,000 unionized employees at eight GCGC casinos in Ontario are set to strike at midnight Friday if a new work agreement can’t be reached.
The union has raised issues such as wages, benefits, pensions and converting more part-time roles to full-time.
Six of the eight Canadian casinos set to strike are tribal. They are: Great Blue Heron Casino, Casino Woodbine, Pickering Casino Resort, Casino Ajax, Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands and Shorelines Casino Peterborough. Unifor’s Local 1090 represents approximately 1,500 workers in all of these casinos.
Meanwhile, Unifor Local 252 represents 30 security workers stationed at Elements Mohawk casino. Additionally, Unifor Local 504 represents 300 workers at Elements Casino Brantford who have a strike mandate, plus 275 slot machine workers at Elements Casino Mohawk and Elements Casino Flamboro.
They have collective agreements that expire in fall 2022 and spring 2023 respectively.
A GCGC spokesperson commented: “Great Canadian Gaming continues to negotiate with members of Unifor and is committed to reaching an agreement that provides our team members with fair and attractive wages, benefits and careers.”
However, the operator is not confident it can prevent strike action in six of the casinos threatening to strike. Elements Casino Brantford and Elements Casino Mohawk are the only two of the eight involved willing to carry on with negotiations past this deadline into the weekend.
GCGC says it is “prepared with contingency plans to minimize disruption and continue operations for our guests.”
