Year in Review: We kick off our countdown of the year’s top news stories — A3
Editor’s note: The Daily Courier today launches its annual look back at the year’s 10 top news stories as selected by staff.
It was lengthy, it was bitter and it was the Okanagan’s most-watched labour dispute of 2018. Just over 700 unionized workers at the Gateway Casinos in Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and Kamloops went on strike June 29 and didn’t ratify a new contract until Nov. 9.
There were 19 long weeks of contentious back-and-forth between members of Local 1707 of the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union and the company that played out as much in the media as it did on the picket lines.
After talks broke down in June, the union gave 72-hour notice and workers walked off the job on the Friday before the Canada Day long weekend.
Such timing had the union feeling confident the company would settle quickly so the casinos could operate fully during the busy summer season. Nothing happened quickly. Workers went on strike to back demands for what they called a living wage.
Casino workers start at the B.C. minimum wage of $12.65 an hour.
The union wanted a boost to $18.63, which it considers a living wage.
Gateway, the operator of Playtime Casino in Kelowna, Cascades in Penticton, Lake City in Vernon and Cascades in Kamloops, initially offered an 85cent-an-hour raise over three years.
Local union spokesperson Gayle Furgala, a dealer at the Kelowna casino, offered her own situation as an example of how poorly workers are paid.
After 19 years working for the company, she was making $15.21 an hour.
The deal that ended the strike will see dealers, slot attendants, cashiers, count-room, kitchen, maintenance, guest service and security workers get a 23.5 per cent wage hike over four years and improved benefits, particularly for part-time workers.
The 23.5 per cent agreed upon is certainly a compromise from the seven per cent the company initially offered and the union’s 49 per cent starting position.
The strike almost didn’t end last month.
The pact was ratified by the narrow margin of 50.7 per cent. That means of the 511 ballots cast in the ratification vote, 259 were in favour and 252 were against.
“The ratification vote was close, which means there is still more work to be done in all four of these workplaces,” said union president Stephanie Smith at the time. “That work starts as soon as the picket lines come down.”
That was toned-down language compared to earlier in the conflict when the union called company wage proposals “insulting” and accused Gateway of having “no respect” for workers.
Gateway fired back at the time that the union was “simply not reasonable” and “out of touch.”
By the time ratification finally rolled around, Gateway thanked “the bargaining committees that worked tirelessly to design an agreement that would fairly reward our employees while remaining reasonable for the businesses we operate in these communities.”
The casinos did remain open during the strike, with managers and non-union workers keeping limited hours.
Everything is back to normal now with restaurants reopened and extended opening hours of 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.