Caesars Windsor casino and hotel remain closed due to members of Unifor Local 444 remaining on strike. The workers walked out April 5 after rejecting a proposed 3-year contract. However, talks between the union and Caesars Windsor are set to resume Tuesday, May 22, the first time since April 18. “Hopefully we come away with a fair and equitable agreement,” said Dave Cassidy, president of Unifor Local 444 which represents the more than 2,000 unionized Caesars Windsor workers.
The strike appears to be benefiting two Detroit casinos. In April, revenue rose 4 percent at MotorCity Casino Hotel and 3 percent at MGM Grand Detroit compared to April 2017, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board. At Greektown Casino-Hotel, revenue fell by 0.5 percent for the month. Alex Calderone, managing director of Birmingham-based Calderone Advisory Group, said some of the increase in Detroit casino business could be a result of the recent federal tax cuts. “We’ll never know for sure, but I do have a strong suspicion that the closure of Windsor has resulted in more dollars flowing across the border. The longer that casino is closed, the better it is for Detroit,” Calderone said.
Cassidy said the union rejected a contract offered by Caesars Windsor that included a $1.75-per-hour wage increase over three years for full-time and part-time employees. That would have been a 9.4 percent increase in the average wage rate, bringing it to $20.42 (Canadian dollars) over the three-year contract. The rejected contract also had signing bonuses of $1,150 for full-time workers and $900 for part-time workers, and no reductions in benefits.
Cassidy added, besides the wage increases, the union has issues with replacing union-run restaurants inside the casino with nonunion businesses and time-off request procedures. He said seniority makes no difference under the present system, and has resulted in some employees sleeping in their car outside the casino to be among the first to request Christmas Day off.
Cassidy said casino management claims the property, owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, is struggling financially. However, he noted in March OLG gave the city of Windsor a $10-million check–its largest ever–for its annual payment for being a casino host city. “We hear, ‘We aren’t making any money,’ but I can tell you, you don’t hand out multimillion-dollar checks if you’re not making any money,” Cassidy said.
Calderone said the strike has lasted long enough to hurt future Caesars Windsor business. “Management should be concerned about some measure of erosion or loss of patron loyalty. People aren’t happy to receive news that their concert was cancelled or their hotel room was cancelled. That doesn’t look good,” he said.
