Nearly 900 workers at Ajax Casino and Pickering Casino Resort are on strike after contract negotiations failed to produce a new collective agreement.
Members of Unifor Local 1090 began strike action just after midnight Friday after talks with Great Canadian Entertainment broke down, according to a news release from Canada’s largest private sector union.
The union said the bargaining unit includes workers across both properties, including gaming floor staff, cash cage employees, food and beverage workers, housekeeping staff, bus drivers, and shipping and receiving personnel.
“Our members at Ajax Casino and Pickering Casino Resort have made it clear they are prepared to walk the picket line to get a fair deal,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a media advisory.
“These workers kept the resort running through difficult years, and all they are asking for is fair wages and job security.”
Workers rejected a tentative agreement because it failed to bring wages in line with employees at another casino, said Local 1090 president Greg Weaver on Friday.
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“We turned down a tentative agreement that didn’t reach our goal of trying to reach parity with Woodbine down the road,” Weaver said at a news conference. “They’re getting more than $3 an hour more across the board than our members here doing the same job at the same time.”
Workers on the picket line also said they routinely face abuse from patrons while on the job.
“We’ve had chips thrown at us. We’ve had cards thrown at us. People screaming in our faces. We’ve had people yelling at us, talking bad about our families,” said games dealer and Pickering Casino chairman Samuel Ho in an interview with Global News.
Housekeeping worker Deborah Bienstman said staff also deal with intoxicated and frustrated customers.
“Patrons that come in and they are either intoxicated or they’re angry because they’ve lost their money. We deal with it.”
“We get pushed. They’re not supposed to do that. They’re not supposed to touch us, but it happens,” she added.
In a statement to Global News, Great Canadian Entertainment said nearly 900 workers at Ajax Casino and Pickering Casino Resort are on strike after contract talks broke down, with the employer saying both properties remain open.
Entertainment said it had been negotiating with the union for months in an effort to reach an agreement.
“Regrettably, despite our best efforts, we have not been successful in reaching an agreement,” executive vice-president Chuck Keeling said. “We are committed to continuing constructive discussions with Unifor to get our team members back to work as soon as possible.”
The company said both Pickering Casino Resort and Ajax Casino will remain open during the labour disruption, although some amenities may be affected.
– With files from Germain Ma, Global News
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