Canadian general trade union, Unifor, has announced their frustration with Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Limited after the company announced several layoffs of full time and part time employees of the Casino Rama. The company acquired the casino in July 2018 and agreed to not layoff employees for one year. Once that time frame ended, the company quickly announced the layoffs.

Eliminating Jobs:

Gateway has decided to layoff 65 full-time employees and 5 part-time positions at Casino Rama. Unifor National President, Jerry Dias, commented on the decision by stating the Gateway has already profited from the privatization of casinos in Ontario and now they are ‘gaming the system on the backs of its employees.’

According to a recent press release…

Mr. Dias stated further: “Ontario’s casinos are in serious jeopardy when private operators replace good full-time jobs with precarious employment. If Gateway wants the support of the communities in which they operate then they will have to do more than the bare minimum.”

Acquisition:

Based in British Columbia, Gateway Casinos increased their number of gaming properties with the addition of Casino Rama on July 18th of 2018. They also announced plans to expand in Ontario communities. The company promised that within the first year, they would not layoff any employees of the venue. As soon as that time frame was up, the company jumped to action by laying off several employees of the venue.

At the time of the acquisition, Unifor stated their concerns regarding the decision to sell the assets of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation as well as the granting of private operator licensing. It is the largest union in the private sector of Canada, representing 315,000 employees in every major area of the country’s economy. For casino employees, as many as 8,700 individuals are associated with the union.