Your Brain Needs a Break!

In the last round of collective bargaining significant movement was made in relation to breaks. The Elbow River Casino had changed their practice around breaks for dealers and the employees wanted to negotiate something that would suit their needs and could not be changed again without further negotiating with the employees.

The employees explained the importance of having regular breaks, especially in this industry doing this type of work. The bargaining committee was able to utilize the Alberta created industry standard by comparing what other casinos were able to achieve like the Starlight and Grand Villa casinos in Edmonton.

The negotiating committee explained the importance of having regular breaks and explained to a third-party mediator the complications of their duties. It was also explained to the employer that even thought this would be an added initial cost, fewer mistakes would likely take place, and therefore providing better consistency and ultimately a higher return for the casino. The mediator agreed with the employees and implemented regular breaks for the employees of the casino.

Studies have shown that people need breaks after 45 minutes to ensure that their brain is at full capacity. The attached study talks about students who are studying for long periods of time, and how unhealthy it is for the brain. To make sure that everyone is at full capability, employees need a break to avoid counting mistakes.

The clients at the casino are different every day. Some experienced gamblers will notice a mistake and not say something to the dealer, especially if it in their favour. However, an inexperienced client may not notice the mistake and listen to the dealer. This could affect both sides, where the “house” may actually be losing money on incorrect payouts.

The Union’s concern was the casino may find out about errors later and attempt to discipline employees for making these mistakes. Dealers have always said that they want to ensure that they are refreshed so that everyone that is at the casino wins, even the Employer.

We always want to ensure that employees have the ability to guarantee their breaks by negotiating them in a Union Contract. These are very simple issues to negotiate, but the Employer may not always want to change them. Employees now have a say in the working conditions of the unionized casino industry. This is the way that employees are able to change their workplace for the better, rather than finding a different place to work.

The Union support continues to grow each and every day within the industry, but there are some people that have not heard about this going on or may not even know that they could be unionized. We are asking you to share this information with your co-workers or friends to let them have their say inside the casino industry.