A labour dispute has spilled onto the sidewalk at two Ontario casinos. Casino workers in Durham Region are on strike after negotiations failed to produce a deal.
The impact was visible right at the front doors. On Friday morning, a lineup of would-be guests who had missed the memo were blocked from being let in by striking workers.
For the workers, the sticking point comes down to money. They say their reasoning boils down to what they consider fair pay, and that they turned down a tentative agreement that did not reach their goal of trying to get parity with the Woodbine site down the road.
The employer says it has tried to meet them. In a statement, Great Canadian Entertainment, which runs the casino sites, said team members at Pickering Casino Resort and Casino Ajax were offered fair and attractive wages, benefits and careers, but that, regrettably, despite its best efforts, it had not been successful.
The workers frame their demand as a matter of equality. They say all they are asking is that their wages be brought up to the same level as other sites within the same company.
The union puts a number on the gap. Unifor says Durham casino workers are being paid roughly $3 an hour less for the same jobs being done elsewhere, and one worker on the line said none of them want a strike, that they want a fair deal and to be equal to their counterparts, and that a lot of people are overworked and underpaid.
The Durham workers are not the only ones off the job. These workers join an additional 100 security guards currently on strike at the Toronto casino location formerly known as Woodbine.