Something that was made very clear at our last round of bargaining was that our local was butting heads with a very big and determined opponent. Time and time again when items were tabled the employer implied that what our demands were, were not in line with the rest of the Gaming industry. They stated on many occasions that if the Non-Unionized staff didn't have something then we shouldn't have it either, unless we wanted to "come back into the fold". We also began to find it difficult to determine what was beneficial and what was not due to the fact that there were so many collective agreements out there to consider. One collective agreement may have said one thing and another may have said something else. We noticed that there was too much division between locals and what was being bargained at different sites.
This is where the employer had the advantage. All casino associates province wide obviously all work for the same industry, and a great majority also work for the same Crown Corporation. The only exceptions to this are the three commercial properties that are run by a third party operator. However that operator is still under the authority of the Crown Corporation as far as regulation and internal controls. So what we face is one big massive crown corporation that has a united front and has the resources to sustain a long and drawn out fight, against small and fragmented, unionized bargaining units.
So what do we do? Well we can just throw our hands up and say were screwed, or we can come up with a plan. One of the biggest things that need to be done is to find out what the main issues are for unionized and Non-Unionized casino associates province wide. The reason being, we may all have the same work related problems and not even know it. You better believe that the employer knows exactly what those issues are.
The second thing that may need to be done is to foster continued communication, education and inter local discussions with other units, so that we can begin to develop a better understanding of the industry and where it is going. We all know that the industry has faced some difficulties over the past couple of years from passport regulations, to the financial crisis that rocked the US. Based on these difficulties the decision makers in the industry will try to find a way to protect the bottom line. It is precisely because of these hardships that communication among Unions and Locals is key, in formulating a common defence strategy to protect the workers that staff the facilities.
We all know that the face of the gaming industry in the province of Ontario is changing rapidly. Every day we see more and more good jobs going out the door just to be replaced by contract employees. We are not just numbers; we are all living breathing people that helped make this province Billions and Billions of dollars over the past 15 to 20 years. So maybe it's time to step it up a notch, and see what can be done to stem the bleeding of good solid well paid jobs.
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