The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation reached a tentative agreement with about 400 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada union employed at Woodbine Racetrack slots. The employees were locked out July 14 after workers voted the previous weekend to reject a tentative agreement that had been reached with OLG July 5. Details of the agreement were not released.
OLG spokesperson Lino Vieira said the union’s bargaining committee planned to present the new collective agreement, followed by a ratification vote.
The main disagreement between the union and OLG was working conditions for part-time employees, who represent 62 per cent of union members. PSAC Ontario President Theo Lagakos said some part-time workers have worked full-time hours for 10 to 15 years. “Everyone has to be on-call. I’ve become a de facto social worker and father confessor. People are breaking down around me. We have single moms and students who want and need to work. But it’s very difficult to have a life outside work. OLG wants employees to be available all the time. There’s a huge burnout rate with that because Woodbine operates 24/7. How do you do daycare? How do you go to school? How do you visit dad in the nursing home? How do you just live? It’s very problematic,” Lagakos said.
Woodbine has remained open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but the electronic poker room was closed
Customers entering the casino were asked by picketing employees to sign a petition to the Ontario Legislature calling “for a new contract in line with the government’s directives in Bill 148.” Also known as the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act 2017, Bill 148 proposes to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, mandate equal pay for part-time, temporary, casual and seasonal employees and makes employee scheduling fairer.
Woodbine has remained open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but the electronic poker room was closed. The facility offers more than 3,000 slot machines, electronic gaming and horseracing.
