Striking Caesars Windsor employees took to the streets for a rally Sunday to show solidarity after 17-days on the picket-lines.
Unifor Local 444 President James Stewart was one of several speakers outside the casino's Chatham St. E. entrance. Hundreds of casino workers and fellow union members from other parts of the province gathered for the rally.
"Kevin Laforet, get back to the table, bargain the agreement, listen to what our members want...when times were tough we did our bit to make sure the casino would remain profitable," shouted Stewart. "All we're saying now is give us what we deserve at the bargaining table and recognize it's the members that provide the profits, it's the members that win the awards that make the casino great."
The union represents 2,300 workers at Caesars who are standing by a decision to turn down a tentative agreement on April 4 — they've been on strike since April 6.
Unifor National President Jerry Dias took to the podium Sunday as well. He tells AM800 News there's more to the strike than money and benefits.
"It's the lack of respect, it's about our members feeling as if nobody is listening to them, it's the daily grind, it's the fight about scheduling, the fight's about a whole host of workplace issues," he says. "So it's not just about the economics it's about changing the mindset that has led to four disputes in 23-years."
Striking Caesars Windsor employees march in front of the casino's Riverside Dr. E. entrance as part of a Unifor Local 444 Union rally on Sunday April 22, 2018. (Photo by AM800's Gord Bacon)
Dias says the union will be negotiating five more contracts with the OLG this year and it wants to establish a frame work.
"We can't have a situation where we have minimum wage workers and workers that make slightly above minimum wage working in an industry that is making millions and millions of dollars a year," says Dias. "We need to find permanent solutions for these types of complicated problems. The facts are, if we can't fix it in an industry that's making millions and millions of dollars a year; we're going to have a lot of difficulty fixing it in industries that are less lucrative."
No word on when both sides will resume talks.