Strike Caesars Windsor April 4/18
. In one of the posts it was mentioned around $9.50 an hour so translating to US$ around $8 an hour.Quote: HunterhillHow much is the dealers toke rate?
Somewhere downthread my friend Speedycrap bemoaned that these wages might not be a living wage, although slightly above minimum wage, and that ALL jobs should pay a 'living' wage. I am right now at the Hard Rock resort in Punta Cana with another couple. The woman is a staunch Republican and supports you know who, but I have utmost respect for her. She is a bartender who works TWO jobs around 70 hours a week. She could afford to live on one salary but wants more of the things only money can buy (like this vacation). She wants no handout. She wants to work to get ahead. No schooling. No advanced skills. Just hard work. Speedy wants the McDonalds worker to put in his 7am-3pm shift and have his families needs guaranteed. Work ethic should be rewarded. And the government by guaranteeing higher wages without schooling/training is a shot to the broadside of work ethic.
Yes, the house is not a nice mansion but it is a house for the family. A car is not new and fancy but is a car for transportation. No steak for dinner and family fun might be picnic at the park or fishing. But that is a life. Minimum wage at Madonalds can still be a living wage. No advanced skill/higher education means not a comfortable life. Government hand out will never be a good life.
the union was due to have elections coming up soon
James Stewart decided to run for financial Secretary job and the financial secretary would run for Presidents Job
nobody runs against either so they are acclaimed
now Caesars says we will be willing to get back to the table next Tuesday
Did James piss them off and in doing so cost himself the top dog job>? as in Caesars told them they would not return to the table with James in charge of the Union..... james was my first union rep when I worked in the plant making those world famous minivans
anyhow here is the latest news
http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/unifor-local-444-installs-new-president-as-caesars-windsor-strike-continues
Quote:Caesars Windsor management and Unifor Local 444 have reached a new tentative agreement. Caesars Windsor unionized employees will vote to ratify the agreement. We will remain closed during this time.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2018/05/17/caesars-windsor-strike-unifor/618331002/
a change in leadership for the Union to the guy that the union sold down the river the one contract where the union FORGOT to disclose to the membership that the 25 cents raise in year two of the contract was on the very last day of year two of the contract not the first day....I kid you not.
the strike continues
these folks are STANDING STRONG
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/caesars-windsor-contract-vote-may-1.4668940
Quote:"This says quite conceivably I could be on a smoking floor all day," said Mary Hansen as she exited the meeting. "All day. I don't smoke it makes me sick. I have asthma."
Are they trying to allow smoking in Caesars Windsor?
Quote: ams288From the article:
Are they trying to allow smoking in Caesars Windsor?
I think since that quote came from a housekeeper, she was referring to smoking rooms. I'm not familiar with the property, but does the hotel have designated floors that allow smoking? It took it as she didn't want to be cleaning all the rooms on a smoking floor.
You are absolutely right about the bargaining team. But you can't leave management without blame. They are the greedy ones. Bringing in millions a day but then crying they have nothing to give to the workers. Besides the money isn't the real issue. This contract was voted down because of the absence of outsourcing language. The casino wants out if the food business. The workers have to protect their jobs. 5300 people worked there years ago. Now it down to 2100. 2300 just before they closed another restaurant and threw 200 people to the street. The place has doubled in size and cut more than 50 percent if the workforce. No wages increase, outsourcing language and a 3 year deal and that contract gets 100 percent approved. To give the city 12 million then say there's nothing left for the workers that make the casino so much money. Cmon
Quote: coilmana quote off facebook by a worker
You are absolutely right about the bargaining team. But you can't leave management without blame. They are the greedy ones. Bringing in millions a day but then crying they have nothing to give to the workers. Besides the money isn't the real issue. This contract was voted down because of the absence of outsourcing language. The casino wants out if the food business. The workers have to protect their jobs. 5300 people worked there years ago. Now it down to 2100. 2300 just before they closed another restaurant and threw 200 people to the street. The place has doubled in size and cut more than 50 percent if the workforce. No wages increase, outsourcing language and a 3 year deal and that contract gets 100 percent approved. To give the city 12 million then say there's nothing left for the workers that make the casino so much money. Cmon
If a business can do the same amount of work with fewer workers that should be considered GOOD, not bad! What sane business owner would want to provide jobs if he does not NEED to? The phrase, "They closed another restaurant and threw 200 people to the street" is so wrong! Should a business keep a restaurant open JUST so people can be employed there, or should the restaurant stay open BECAUSE it makes money for the owner/investor? No one wants to hear it, but perhaps if the 200 employees were making LESS the restaurant would have been profitable to keep open.
It just stuns me that many people believe a business's PURPOSE is to provide jobs!
Not necessarily.Quote: SOOPOOIf a business can do the same amount of work with fewer workers that should be considered GOOD, not bad!
Anyway, I think what happens is the casino closes a restaurant for awhile then it reopens under a different name but all the workers are employees of the new restaurant operator, not the casino so those workers remain at very low wages and lower or non-existent benefits.
The casino is the profit center that counts all other operations are mere accounting entries. If the casino outsources everything its the type of skimming that has been going on for decades in the USA where ownership is in some foreign entity or atleast distant entity that reports solely to Wall Street. This is why condominiums fail when there are too many investors, towns fail when there are no corporate sponsorships of communities. Cities try to buy corporate payrolls with tax incentives but then find that there is no tax base to fund the costs of increased growth.
Soon it becomes a mere coincidence that an employee is working "at the casino" because he is really just working at a fast food joint similar to any other fast food joint in town: low wages, high stress and no hope.
Quote: FleaStiffNot necessarily.
Anyway, I think what happens is the casino closes a restaurant for awhile then it reopens under a different name but all the workers are employees of the new restaurant operator, not the casino so those workers remain at very low wages and lower or non-existent benefits.
Soon it becomes a mere coincidence that an employee is working "at the casino" because he is really just working at a fast food joint similar to any other fast food joint in town: low wages, high stress and no hope.
Then don't take the job at "a fast food joint similar to any other fast food joint in town"!!! Since the job apparently must require the same skill set as " a f f j s t a o f f j i t", why should they pay more than " a f f j s t a o f f j i t"?
So also, if you are a business paying employees 100K a year to get a task accomplished, are you saying they SHOULD NOT hire an outsourced company that can do the same job for $70k? I'm guessing you never owned or ran a business.....
Quote: SOOPOOIf a business can do the same amount of work with fewer workers that should be considered GOOD, not bad! What sane business owner would want to provide jobs if he does not NEED to? The phrase, "They closed another restaurant and threw 200 people to the street" is so wrong! Should a business keep a restaurant open JUST so people can be employed there, or should the restaurant stay open BECAUSE it makes money for the owner/investor? No one wants to hear it, but perhaps if the 200 employees were making LESS the restaurant would have been profitable to keep open.
It just stuns me that many people believe a business's PURPOSE is to provide jobs!
As a former business owner who still has lots invested in them, I see it differently. A responsible business owner should certainly care about both his workers and the local community. Improving your neighbors and community's standards only helps your business.
A business owner who only cares about his bottom line and not his workers or customers has a very good chance of failing.
Quote: billryan
A business owner who only cares about his bottom line and not his workers or customers has a very good chance of failing.
Every business owner has a very good chance of failing. Keeping employees happy is certainly one factor in running a successful business. Just as keeping your costs as low as possible and maximizing revenue are.
47% of the workers voted to take the offer. The officials THEY elected agreed to a deal, not once but TWICE. If any SINGLE worker is valued enough by ANY other business they can take a job with that other business. NO ONE is forcing them to work for this casino!
Quote: speedycrapThe debate will go beyond only wages. It comes down to what kind of community we want.
Exactly. I want one where people are striving through education or hard work or ingenuity to advance. Not one where people expect to succeed through legislation.
Quote: speedycrapAgree. But, are we setting a safety net for everybody?
Apparently Canada has set its safety net. Free health care for all. A higher minimum wage. The employees want MORE than what your so called 'safety net' provides. Learn new skills. Get a second job. Take an on line degree. Etc....
Quote: SOOPOOIf a business can do the same amount of work with fewer workers that should be considered GOOD, not bad! What sane business owner would want to provide jobs if he does not NEED to? The phrase, "They closed another restaurant and threw 200 people to the street" is so wrong! Should a business keep a restaurant open JUST so people can be employed there, or should the restaurant stay open BECAUSE it makes money for the owner/investor? No one wants to hear it, but perhaps if the 200 employees were making LESS the restaurant would have been profitable to keep open.
It just stuns me that many people believe a business's PURPOSE is to provide jobs!
I think perhaps there is a whole picture involved.
I'm pretty sure (but don't have the facts on hand) that, at the time Windsor was proposed, the approvals were based on that company providing x amounts of jobs with y amount of an average salary and company benefits, and an expectation of z amount of municipal /provincial revenue. Those numbers were critical to allowing the casino to exist.
CET is outsourcing all over this way, for restaurants and other vendors, contract labor that transfers the money from their own employees to outside companies that pay less in wages and benefits. The money that was expected to be earned and spent locally instead goes to franchise fees and outside investors. CET saves money by not having to fund employee pension and benefits over the long term, and perhaps gains revenue from those franchise fees, perhaps pays less net to have the on-site amenity.
Not sure whether CET is a vendor themselves, or owns the property. But however it is structured, it is a weaseling out of the obligations the casino builders made to the community in order to get the place built. There may be tax obligations structured by the size of the corporation's employees being shorted, property-wide ancillary staffing that gets reduced from promised levels because the franchises do their own maintenance and cleaning and accounting, lots of other ripple effects.
All legitimate business decisions in some arenas, but not legitimate if obligations made are being shirked.
Casinos have huge negative values to.the surrounding community, in concentrating negative elements into a focal point. Increased traffic requiring road improvements, more police presence needed, litter cleanup, localized crime, noise, all cost-negative issues which were judged more than offset by the positive revenue for good jobs and tax collection, or the approvals for zoning and building would not have happened. That calculation may be undercut, and the balance shifted to the negative, by these type changes.
That business is not operating in isolation. They're turning a win-win situation into a win-lose and saying, whaddya gonna do about it? They made long-term obligations and need to follow them through.
Quote: beachbumbabsI think perhaps there is a whole picture involved.
I'm pretty sure (but don't have the facts on hand) that, at the time Windsor was proposed, the approvals were based on that company providing x amounts of jobs with y amount of an average salary and company benefits, and an expectation of z amount of municipal /provincial revenue. Those numbers were critical to allowing the casino to exist.
If what you say is true then the governing body who made the deal to allow the casino to be built needs to be heard. If CET agreed to a guarantee of a certain number of jobs or a certain level of compensation (I would bet they DID NOT) then they should be held to that. The casino in Niagara Falls USA, by the way, has 100% IMPROVED the area, not hurt it. Many restaurants and hotels in the immediate area that ONLY exist because of the casino.
The Ontario Government has hired Caesars to run day to day operations
Did Caesars by eliminating full time jobs and hiring part time or casuals cause the problem?
Right now on strike they ALL get $250 a week strike pay ( tax free I believe) so lots of casuals and part time are making more on strike while fighting for FULL TIME jobs with benefits. Add to that the contracts offered will pay them about $200 a week ( on time out so far) in a bonus .
FREE HEALTH CARE that's a laugh
we are taxed at every turn we also pay a Health "TAX" Premium on earnings
https://www.ontario.ca/page/health-premium
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/frequently-asked-questions-individuals/canadian-income-tax-rates-individuals-current-previous-years.html
we pay about $1 more per gallon of gas ...yep more taxes
taxes on purchases are 13% in Ontario ( 8% Ontario tax and 5% Federal) buy that $40,000 car and add $5200 in taxes on it
Quote: SOOPOOIf what you say is true then the governing body who made the deal to allow the casino to be built needs to be heard. If CET agreed to a guarantee of a certain number of jobs or a certain level of compensation (I would bet they DID NOT) then they should be held to that. The casino in Niagara Falls USA, by the way, has 100% IMPROVED the area, not hurt it. Many restaurants and hotels in the immediate area that ONLY exist because of the casino.
I have written government proposals for work in the US from both the govt side and the contractor side. Which may or may not be pertinent to how Ontario does things.
But any RFP for a new industry to be allowed, especially one with a moral component like gambling, would have to provide projected employment and salary figures in great detail. Guarantees, doubtful, but could be in performance matrix requirements for certain minimums.
Quote: SOOPOOApparently Canada has set its safety net. Free health care for all. A higher minimum wage. The employees want MORE than what your so called 'safety net' provides. Learn new skills. Get a second job. Take an on line degree. Etc....
As a Canadian, I can assure you that health care is not free.
Quote: rsactuaryAs a Canadian, I can assure you that health care is not free.
Please continue. We south of the border here are always told that your health care is free. I understand that it is paid for by taxpayers. Is that what you mean by 'health care is not free'?
Of course it is not free. It is however highly regulated thru turnstiles, hoops and maximization of assets.Quote: SOOPOOPlease continue. We south of the border here are always told that your health care is free. I understand that it is paid for by taxpayers. Is that what you mean by 'health care is not free'?
You want something, you go on a waiting list. You miss the appointment for any reason at all, you go back on the waiting list. Medical equipment does not lie fallow, it gets used or else it doesn't get purchased in the first place. Appointments start at 8:00am sharp and go to 9.00pm. There are no "slack times". Doctors do not get a "coffee break" between patients. Personnel are scheduled for rotating shifts. You don't like being rotated onto a shift that goes against the clock? Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
The medical care is 'free' to the extent that Canadians pay taxes to fund the free care. Yet that 'free' care is limited by frustrating barriers and co-pays and lack of options. Want gout medicine? Stand in line for three hours and you get the defined dose of the defined drug. No options for dose adjustment or use of a different drug.
Richer Canadians or more desperate Canadians have an "escape valve". The US, Mexico and Panama. In the US the medical system will confirm the diagnosis, plan, treat, get the patient recuperated and give him a whopping bill in less time than he would be on the waiting list, but Canada then screws him on his 'time out of country' for future healthcare coverage.
Everything costs even if the accountants have different ways of sorting out those debits and credits.
Consider the UK. Pretty much similar to the USA as far as everything except a few words go and in the UK its 'Casualty' not the 'ER' and its an Operating Theater not an Operating Room but the demographics and population and society is pretty much the same as the US. The doctors however make half of what they can make in the US. Want to move to England for their national health service?
Quote: SOOPOOIt just stuns me that many people believe a business's PURPOSE is to provide jobs!
And some people who want people to work and pay more of the burden of taxes complain about the unfairness of the progressive tax, but they also don't want those same people to work or make too much money. Interesting.
Quote: rxwineAnd some people who want people to work and pay more of the burden of taxes complain about the unfairness of the progressive tax, but they also don't want those same people to work or make too much money. Interesting.
I want the market to decide what a worker's value is, not the government. You obviously don't agree with me.
Quote: IbeatyouracesVote #3 on a tentative deal happening tomorrow morning.
yep see what they offered this time
see how they are going to improve employee moral in that place
see how it compares to the deal the folks in Vegas got without going out
Thursday they open up again
http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/caesars-windsor-workers-to-vote-on-tentative-agreement-for-a-third-time
