Casino workers vote to strike
Trevor Nichols - Jun 08, 2018 - Biz Releases

Image: Trevor Nichols

Workers at four of the Okanagan’s largest casinos could soon hit the picket lines.

They work for Gateway Casinos Entertainment Limited, which operates Playtime Casino in Kelowna, Lake City Casino in Vernon, and Cascades Casinos in Penticton and Kamloops.

The employees are represented by the British Columbia Government Employees Union and this week voted strongly in favour of strike action.

According to the BCGEU, 88 per cent of its members at the four casinos took part in the vote and 93 per cent of them were in favour of a strike.

That means they could officially walk off the job by early next week.

The vote came just a few weeks after the union and Gateway returned to the bargaining table to resume contract negotiations.

BCGEU president Stephanie Smith says those negotiations “were not productive” and broke off after Gateway refused to offer wages the union thought was acceptable.

In May, Gateway employees told Okanagan Edge the company was offering them an 85-cent raise, spread out over four years.

Smith today wouldn’t give exact details on Gateway’s latest offer but said it wouldn’t even keep up with the latest minimum wage increases proposed by the provincial government.

“The casino industry is a profitable one, but none of that profit is at all possible without the work of the members. They take their jobs very seriously and they would like to have a family supporting job in some of the most expensive areas to live in the country,” Smith said.

She said the strong support from BCGEU members for a strike gives the union confidence to move ahead with strike preparations, and that “the ball is now in their (Gateway’s) court” to avoid a walkout.

Gateway did not immediately respond to request for comment.

“Gateway Casino workers in the Okanagan are ready to do whatever it takes to get a fair contract with their employer–including strike, if necessary,” says Smith.

Gateway’s Okanagan staff have been trying to negotiate a new collective agreement since the last one expired in September 2017.

Local BCGEU members working at the casinos held a rally last month to present a petition to management.

BCGEU members working at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam, which is owned by the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, have also been on strike for several weeks.


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