Winnipeg casino workers set stage for strike

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries casino workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of striking if a deal with their employer isn’t reached soon.

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Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries casino workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of striking if a deal with their employer isn’t reached soon.

Unifor Local 144 Unit 37, which represents more than 750 workers at the McPhillips Station, Club Regent and Shark Club casinos in Winnipeg, said 98 per cent of its members voted to strike if a contract isn’t inked this month.

The employees, who have been without a collective agreement since June 2022, include casino dealers, cashiers, slot attendants, security, customer service and grounds employees as well as skilled trade workers.

The union said it will begin job action just after midnight on Dec. 23 if its members don’t get a new contract.

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries spokespeople, who normally work Monday-to-Friday, did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

Unifor’s western regional director, Gavin McGarrigle, said on Saturday the union is ready to sit down and negotiate a deal, with a focus on wage increases.

“They’ve made offers, but it’s really been totally inadequate. We’ve been going through COVID-19, where a lot of these workers were impacted, we’ve seen a former government that didn’t really care for public workers, and instead of trying to put money on the table, were trying to claw money away,” McGarrigle said by phone.

“As we got into more serious negotiations, we started to realize that the message might not have gotten through yet, that public sector workers deserve a much better increase than what they’re offering.”

Members’ wages have only gone up 1.75 per cent in six years, said McGarrigle, adding the workers need more money in their pockets to deal with the rising cost of living.

The union last sat down with Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries last week, according to the union.

“When the new (New Democratic) government got sworn in, we’ve been trying to ask the negotiators on the company side, do they have any new mandates, do they have any new information? So there have been a couple of sessions that have been cancelled or haven’t been very productive, and finally we got to the point we realized there’s nothing new coming at this point,” McGarrigle said.

“We want to get this resolved before picket line and not have the government try to deal with it afterward… That’s why we’re giving notice now, that somebody needs to find some time for these workers and make sure that they make a serious offer.”

McGarrigle said union officials have not yet decided what, exactly, the Dec. 23 job action would look like — if it goes forward.

If the casino workers take job action, it would be the third public sector strike by provincial Crown corporation employees this year — and the second by employees of Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries — but the first to begin under the new NDP government.

Roughly 1,400 Liquor Mart workers, who are represented by the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, began job actions with a one-day strike on July 19, which eventually led to a full-blown walkout on Aug. 8. The liquor worker strike didn’t end entirely until Aug. 27.

The MGEU liquor employees, who had been without a contract since March 2022, voted to ratify a new collective agreement that incorporates universal and compounding wage increases totalling approximately 12 per cent over four years.

The latest contract included pay-scale adjustments, benefit enhancements, other targeted shift premiums and allowances, and a one-time lump-sum payment.

MGEU’s president Kyle Ross and the Crown corporation repeatedly traded jabs in the summer labour dispute.

About 1,700 Manitoba Public Insurance workers, also represented by MGEU, began a strike the next day, on Aug. 28.

The public insurer employee strike dragged on for more than two months. The NDP government quickly replaced most of MPI’s board of directors, shortly after being sworn-in mid-October, which MGEU’s president called a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

The majority of the striking MPI workers voted to accept a new contract on Nov. 1.

The MPI deal improved wages by about one per cent compared to a tentative agreement workers voted to reject days earlier.

The public insurer deal also included signing bonuses of $1,800 each, plus two weeks’ worth of “recognition pay” for the time workers spent on strike without any bargaining happening because of the Oct. 3 provincial election and government transition.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera reports for the city desk, with a particular focus on crime and justice.

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Updated on Saturday, December 2, 2023 3:07 PM CST: Fixes style