Caesars Windsor employees on the picket line, April 6, 2018. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.Caesars Windsor employees on the picket line, April 6, 2018. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Windsor

Caesars Windsor Workers Reject Deal

The strike at Caesars Windsor continues.

Workers rejected a new four-year tentative deal by a vote of 52.8% today.

The vote took place after a ratification meeting Friday morning at the WFCU Centre in Windsor.

The deal included a raise of $2.25 an hour for the length of the contract, plus an increased signing bonus of $1,600 for full-time employees, and a $1,200 signing bonus for part-time employees.

A visibly-upset Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy provided the vote total to reporters in an empty arena.

"Am I disappointed today? Yeah, of course, I am," said Cassidy. "Everybody is when they go into a ratification and they want to get a deal. But you know what? As I said earlier, the membership has the ultimate final decision in the way it works, so we'll just go back at it."

With the rejection, less than 2,200 employees, mostly dealers, housekeepers, cooks and hospitality personnel, remain off the job.

Cassidy believed some workers were not happy with the change that increased the length of the contract from three to four years.

"They didn't like to see the fourth year," said Cassidy. "We really put our nose to the grind, we changed things up. I think we got some good language around our scheduling and work-life balance to work on."

Employees walked off the job April 5 after rejecting the casino's previous contract.

Since then, the casino has been closed.

The strike at Caesars Windsor continues. May 18, 2018. (Photo by Mark Brown) Unifor Local 444 president Dave Cassidy speaks to reporters after the contract vote at the WFCU Centre, May 18, 2018. (Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News)

Caesars Windsor management responded early Friday afternoon.

"This is unfortunate," said Caesars Entertainment Regional President Kevin Laforet in a statement. "We are incredibly disappointed in the outcome of today's vote which was fully endorsed by both the Unifor National and Local 444 bargaining teams. This agreement is more than fair and sustainable."

Shows and events have been cancelled through at least the end of May.

"I personally want to apologize for the continued inconvenience this causes our customers," said Laforet. "The long-term effect on our business goes well beyond revenue loss and is immeasurable."

No new talks have been scheduled as of yet. 

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