The union which currently represents food and beverage workers at Kawartha Downs-situated Shorelines Slots has urged Premier Doug Ford to keep the promise regarding the Fraserville facility’s slot machines he made during his campaign.
Now, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2 has called for the Premier to honor that promise and keep some machines even after the opening of the new Peterborough casino which is set to open later in October. This happens the relocation of some slot machines. For the time being, the union represents more than 30 Shorelines Slots’ workers who have still not been offered jobs at Shorelines Casino Peterborough.
On multiple occasions, especially at the time of his campaign, Mr. Ford demonstrated his full support of the slot machines situated at racetracks and promised to keep them operating. Now, Ted Mansell, a business agent of the SEIU Local 2, reminded the Premier of the engagement he has previously given. Mr. Marsell reminded of Ford’s view that removal of the slots from local racetracks had been a big mistake that was going to reverse.
“(…) Kawartha Downs is losing their slots and with it, over 70 racetrack jobs so important to these employees and their community.” – Ted Mansell, business agent at SEIU Local 2
Kawartha Downs Workers Want to Be Transferred to Peterborough Casino
According to sources of The Peterborough Examiner, a large number of Kawartha Downs slot machines have already been removed and taken to a new place. The remaining slot machines, on the other hand, are set to be moved to Toronto.
As mentioned above, the new Peterborough casino is still under construction, but the venue is expected to open by the end of October.
Earlier in 2018, the workers at Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs planned to go on strike in order to encourage more people to boycott the Peterborough casino in case that the owner of the venue – the Great Canadian Gaming Corp. – refused to hire them. Picket action was scheduled for May 28th, but it was soon canceled because the food and beverage and security departments were understaffed.
At the time when the strike action was planned, workers revealed that the company had told them it is not obliged to transfer them to another facility. That was exactly why staff members employed by Kawartha Downs had feared that they would lose their jobs as soon as the venue’s slot machines were moved to another site.
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The Great Canadian Gaming Corp. then released a written statement saying that about 130 employees of Shorelines Slots had been offered positions at the new Peterborough facility. At the time, the operator further noted that staff members who were employed by a different company had been encouraged to file applications for suitable positions depending on their skills and professional experience.
