Late last night, Unifor Local 144 announced that a tentative agreement over a new worker contract was ratified, with 93% of the votes in favor.
The tentative deal was initially reached on Monday with Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries.
At the start of this month, members of the union Unifor Local 144 voted in favor of a strike that would go ahead just before Christmas, if a new contract could not be agreed.
Workers in Winnipeg’s three casinos, including dealers, cashiers, slot attendants, security, house/grounds, customer service representatives and 'skilled trades' workers voted unanimously for the strike to go ahead if no agreement was in place by 12:01am on December 23.
However, it now appears a deal has been struck with the union and its members, of whom there are over 750, with employees being without a collective agreement since June 2022.
The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union also announced that nearly 200 food and beverage workers at two casinos had voted to ratify an eight-year contract. Employees had been working without a contract since 2020, when many members were laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic as casinos closed.
The collective agreement includes wage increases ranging from approximately 16% to more than 40%.
Unifor National Representative, Suzanne King, said: “It was a long time coming. They were without a collective agreement for a year and a half, but we’re proud of our members for standing strong and getting us a strike mandate so we could get the collective agreement that they deserve.”
