The nearly five-month strike against Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd. by about 700 members of the British Columbia Government and Service Employees Union could end if the union members approve of a tentative agreement reached by Gateway and the union leadership.
Workers of four casinos in the Okanagan region of BC are involved in the strike: Cascades Kamloops, Cascades Penticton, Playtime Kelowna and Lake City Vernon.
They walked off their jobs on July 1 demanding higher wages to bring them to parity to what union leaders call a “living wage” in the region. Gateway has called the demands unreasonable.
Gateway had already been reeling from a report by a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police inspector who characterized BC casinos as “laundromats” for illegal money from Chinese high rollers and local mob figures and from another strike at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam. That strike ended in July just as the current one was beginning.
The current strike will end if union members ratify the agreement. BCGEU President Stephanie Smith issued this statement: “Our bargaining committee worked so very hard and now it’s over to our BCGEU members to learn about their potential agreement and to vote!”
