Casino Union Victories
We have been notified today that the casino bosses have retreated from their mandatory and illegal shift requirement. Your employer no longer requires you to be working for free before your shift.
Late last month the Union set an update that talked specifically about the issue of not being paid for the time that you were required to work. The casino required dealers to show up 15 minutes early to start dealing, and then stay 15 minutes later to sort cards. The Employment Standards Code states that this is a violation of the law, and many employees have looked into this themselves. However, with the amount of work required to form a complaint, and fear of retaliation from the casino, the concerned employees opted not to follow through with a complaint.
The good news is the casino bosses must have got wind of the update that we sent out, and have since retreated from their illegal policy. As this policy has been in place for the length of time that it has, simply put, this is because the workers of Elbow River Casino contacted UFCW Local 401.
As you know we have successfully been able to negotiate 2 very strong Union agreements with a very large company called Gateway Casinos. Many of the same issues you are facing, are the ones they faced as well. However, we have been able to ensure that not only the issues were dealt with, but that they no longer be an issue for the entire agreement.
As this is a major victory for the employees of Elbow River Casino, this may only be a temporary fix. Employers have the ability to change the way they operate their business however they feel, unless there is a contract in writing. Many of you have received contracts when you first started with the casino, but these contracts are different because they are not legal binding. Any contract can be changed by the boss without the employees consent except for a Union Contract, they cannot be changed unless agreed to by the employees.
There are still many issues on the table that employees would like to be dealt with, which means there is still a lot of work to do. Please share the Union information with your co-workers so they can get all of the updates and information on how we can make a difference in the workplace.
In our view, this workplace is already united, but to be an official union, there must be enough workers to sign up. No one has been fired for trying to join the Union, and everyone that signs up is confidential.
If you have any questions, or would like to set up a meeting, please contact us at 403-803-4270 or a jirving@ufcw401.ab.ca.
