Kawartha Downs workers urge premier to honour promise
The union representing food and beverage workers at Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs is calling on Premier Doug Ford to honour his campaign promise to keep slot machines operating at the Fraserville facility.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2 represents more than 30 unionized workers who have not been offered jobs at Shorelines Casino Peterborough, expected to open as soon as later this month.
Ford stated on multiple occasions that he fully supports slots at racetracks and vowed to bring them back to where they have been taken out, SEIU business agent Ted Mansell stated in a press release Thursday.
“He said removal of the slots from racetracks was a big mistake that he is going to reverse,” Mansell stated. “Well Mr. Ford, Kawartha Downs is losing their slots and with it, over 70 racetrack jobs so important to these employees and their community. Where’s your promise when we need it the most?”
The Examiner has learned that many of Kawartha Downs machines have already been moved to the new site and remaining ones are expected to be shipped to Toronto.
Construction is still continuing on the new casino at The Parkway and Crawford Drive but it’s expected to open soon.
With the province’s dairy industry is already in turmoil because of the new United StatesCanada trade deal, we can’t afford to lose jobs at Ontario’s slots at race tracks that Ford promised he would preserve and restore, Mansell added. “Doug Ford’s popular boast of ‘a promise made is a promise kept’ is ringing pretty hollow.”
Chief steward Kellie Warren has worked in food and beverage at Kawartha Downs since the slots opened in the 1990s.
“It’s tough work but it has fed my family for 20-plus years,” Warren stated.
“Premier Ford promised Ontario voters during the election that he fully supports slots at racetracks and vowed to preserve these important racetrack jobs. Now that we all need to maintain and protect these rural-based jobs more than ever, why is he turning his back on his campaign promise?!”
Earlier this year, the workers planned to picket to encourage people to boycott the new casino unless owner Great Canadian Gaming agreed to hire them.
They quickly cancelled the May 28 protest because the food and beverage and security departments were short-staffed for the opening of the horse racing season that day and because of “very robust” media coverage of the event, Mansell said.
The company responded in a written statement.
“As previously stated, Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs has offered its own team members, approximately 130 people, positions at the new Shorelines Casino Peterborough facility; however, Kawartha Downs staff who are employed by a different company have been encouraged to apply for positions that may be suitable for them based on their skill and experience,” general manager Bryan Buchanan stated.
Local 2 is the fastest-growing local in Canada’s fastest-growing union, stated the SEIU, adding it is the largest union in Ontario’s horse racing industry.
Haliburton-Kawartha LakesBrock MPP Laurie Scott could not be reached for comment.