Unifor has started a picket line at another Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC) casino after negotiations between the firm and the trade union regarding wages broke down.
Beginning on July 29, all six entrances at GCGC-owned Casino Woodbine now have picket lines, causing long delays for anyone wanting to enter the establishment.
The picket lines at Casino Woodbine follow the strikes by the members of Unifor Local 1090 at Pickering Casino Resort, which have been ongoing since July 23.
“Our members, workers at Pickering Casino and their other properties, are fighting for equality with workers at other casinos,” commented Lana Payne, Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer.
“They are looking for fairness and Unifor is with them in this struggle.”
Unifor Local 1090 represents approximately 1,500 gaming workers at six GCGC properties: Great Blue Heron Casino, Casino Woodbine, Pickering Casino Resort, Casino Ajax, Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands, and Shorelines Casino Peterborough.
The union states that its members are on strike for wage increases and to reduce the GCGC’s reliance on a “precarious part-time workforce”.
Corey Dalton, Local 1090 President, added: “Great Canadian Gaming can easily afford to pay workers at Pickering what they pay workers at Woodbine. Until that gap is reduced, it will not be business as usual for GCGC.”
The picket lines come after it was reported that tentative deals were made with six gaming establishments – Casino Woodbine, Great Blue Heron Casino, Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands, and Shorelines Casino Peterborough, and with security workers at Elements Casino Mohawk and Elements Casino Brantford – to prevent strikes from taking place.
Unifor states it represents 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy, advocating “for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future”.
