There doesn’t appear to be any hope of a quick resolution to the labour dispute that has seen 675 unionized workers at four Okanagan casinos owned and operated by Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd. walk off the job two weeks ago.
Tanya Garbara, director of public relations for Gateway Casinos, issued a news release Thursday saying the British Columbia Government Employees’ Union (BCGEU) announced Wednesday that they were not prepared to provide a wage proposal.
Close to 700 BCGEU members at Cascades Casino in Penticton, Cascades Casino in Kamloops, Playtime in Kelowna and Lake City Vernon hit the picket lines the afternoon of Friday, June 29 after mediation talks broke down.
In a strike vote held from June 4 to 6, over 88 per cent of Gateway staff in all four Okanagan casinos came out and voted 93.1 per cent in favour of taking strike action.
“Our members are asking for living wages that would bring them in-line with the industry standard for casino workers in BC,” said BCGEU President Stephanie Smith, in a press release, in the hours before the labour dispute began
“We entered mediation with the hope that Gateway would present a reasonable offer in a timely way but we were met with more stall tactics.”
“When it became clear that the company was not going to make an acceptable offer, the bargaining committee decided to exercise the strike mandate given to them by the workers.”
Gateway’s Okanagan staff have been trying to negotiate a new collective agreement since the last one expired in September 2017, she said.
Gabara sent a news release Thursday stating that at noon Wednesday, the BCGEU announced “that they are not prepared to provide a wage proposal. After three days of mediation and almost two weeks on strike, the BCGEU said they cannot give their wage proposal until July 20.
On the first day of mediation on Monday, the union maintained their proposals for wage increases of 60 percent, plus significant increases for benefits, said the release.
“This is clearly in excess of any reasonable rates in this market and simply not competitive,” said Gateway.
The union has proposed that a casino security officer would be making 23 per cent more than the starting rate of a trained entry level RCMP officer, said Gateway.
For other positions, the union is asking for rates that are comparable to the earnings of trades-people, nurses and school teachers, said Gateway.
“The union has also acknowledged that tips form part of an employee’s income,” said Gateway. “The union has calculated tips to be at least $8.75 per hour when providing examples of what to expect for strike pay. In fact, 85 percent of the positions within these casinos are tip earning positions. Most tips range from $8 per hour to $12 per hour or more depending on the location or department.”
At the start of the second day, Gateway proposed wage rate increases between 2.4 percent and 13 percent in the first year of the collective agreement, in addition to two percent each year after that, said Gateway.
“These wages, in addition to tips, would see Gateway employees making well over market rates,” said Gateway. “This proposal is also in line with other recent settlements in British Columbia both by government and private companies.”
Gateway’s proposal was delivered as the company waited for the rest of the day on Tuesday and all morning Wednesday in anticipation of a reasonable wage proposal they expected to be returned by the union.
At noon on Wednesday, the union announced they would not be prepared to offer an upgraded wage proposal until July 20, said Gateway.
It makes little sense that the strike has now dragged on for almost a full two weeks and the union is now asking for another nine days before discussing the key issue of wages, said Gateway.
Recently, Caesars Windsor employees went on strike for two months and achieved essentially the same deal that they rejected in April, said Gateway.
Hard Rock Casino Coquitlam has been on strike since May 11 and several months later, the parties are no closer to resolution, said Gateway.
“Given this, it is unfortunate that the union remains unwilling to be more reasonable,” said Gateway. "The fact is this strike is causing harm to the employees and to the business. Our employees are telling us that they want to return to work as soon as possible and do not want to see delays in mediation. We are prepared to bargain any time, including weekends and holidays.
“We know a satisfactory collective agreement for both our staff and our company is possible, but it is not possible to achieve this if the union is not prepared or available to bargain. In the meantime, we remain open for business and hope our valued customers will come visit us soon.”
Several calls to the media relations department at the BCGEU were not returned as of Wednesday afternoon.
PentictonNow will update this story once more information becomes available.
For more information on Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, visit their website at www.gatewaycasinos.com.
For more information on the BCGEU, visit the website at www.bcgeu.ca.
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