Unionized employees at the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver in Coquitlam are back at work after voting to ratify — barely — a new labour contract with the company, ending a 10-week strike.
Stephanie Smith, president of the BCGEU, which represents 400 workers at the United Boulevard facility, said the new agreement increases wages and improves benefits for the union members.
“This is a groundbreaking first agreement,” she told The Tri-City News Tuesday, a day after the union announced the contract had been ratified. “This sets a new standard in terms of wages and benefits.”
She said employees on the higher end of the pay scale will see an immediate approximate wage lift of 5% while those on the lower end will received an increase of 31%. Wages will also increase 2% per year over the three-year deal and a new targeted benefit pension plan is included.
Workers have been on strike since May 11 in a dispute over wages and hours of work. A tentative agreement had been reached by the company, Great Canadian Gaming Corp., and the union last month but workers voted against ratifying that deal. Smith said at the time that members were concerned about the casino’s decision to phase out poker and craps tables, whose dealers tend to have higher-paying jobs. The company would not confirm the decision to The Tri-City News.
Contract language was added following the failed ratification vote that moved up wage increases in the scale and clarified language around layoffs and recall notification, Smith added. Still, she conceded the contract was ratified by “a slim margin” of 57%.
“I think that speaks to the uncertainty,” she said. “We are going to have to continue to work really hard to protect our members’ interests.”
Picket lines came down immediately after the contract was ratified and workers in security and culinary were back on the job Monday. Jimmy Ho, general manager of the casino, said in a statement that he is pleased that employees would be returning to work. He confirmed that the deal is for three and a half years and the casino would “resume full scope of its operations on Wednesday.”
