Cascades Casino Chatham has rewarded its staff with a new and improved contract amidst the unprecedented situation to ensure that the gaming venue will be able to retain its workforce in such trying times. The recent contract proposal was faced with serious backing across personnel with 87.3% agreeing to the terms.
The gambling property is overseen by Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, and it had positive talks about the contract situation of its staff with the union representing them. The agreement is until November 2023, and it will include a wage increase over the course of running down the contract. There will be a CA$0.20 wage rise in the second year of the terms and an additional CA$0.30 in the final year for the unionized staff.
Agreement
Dave Cassidy who is the president of Unifor Local 444, stated that the purpose is to maintain what workers had and even improve on it due to the new workplace. The union currently represents 150 staff members from the beforementioned gambling entity of Chatham. According to Mr. Cassidy, the union reached its goals for the agreement and there were no alleged concessions.
The amended contract will also include an additional bonus of CA$20 per visit for paramedical services, such as chiropractic and massage therapy. Part-time staff members will be also able to accumulate up to 3 days of lieu time. Additionally, there will be changes to the type of pick shifts, working hours, and balancing of overtime and breaks.
The casino was first suspended from operations in March 2020, with the first wave of lockdown restrictions, then reopened in October for invited guests only. Then closed again in December and most recently reopened in February after the provincial government of Ontario allowed some businesses to recommence. The now functioning gaming property is once again under the “invited guests only” policy and has a capacity of 10 at a time.
Spokesperson of the Gateway Casinos Rob Mitchell addressed the successfully negotiated agreement between the union and the overseeing gaming company. According to Mr. Mitchell, the agreement was an important step for the future considering the difficult circumstances regarding reviving the economy in the country. He added that the casino will continue to work hard towards providing the best possible customer service in compliance with the health and safety measures.
Securing the Future
Unifor Local 444 has more great news for its unionized workers in the Ontario province, latest news from the labor union claim that it has successfully negotiated better retirement benefits for its staff members of Caesars Windsor Casino. The agreement between the syndicate and the gambling venue states that workers will have bigger bonus incentives in addition to the earlier retirement opportunity.
No Staff Reduction
Casino Rama expressed its desire to renew its gaming floor amidst non-operational status and no reopening date for the gaming property. According to reports the casino plans to remove up to 400 slot machines and 20 table games in order to make some rearrangements. However, the gaming leader reassured that no staff will be laid off from their positions after discussions with Unifor Local 1090 which represents almost 1050 of the gambling venue’s workers.
Source: Morrison, Tom “Cascades Casino Chatham employees approve new contract” Chatham-Kent This Week, February 25, 2021
