Two-year deal includes wage increases, amnesty for fired strikers
CALGARY –Place your bets.
Casino Calgary workers are putting down their picket signs and heading back to work. The employees voted 73% to accept a mediator’s recommended settlement and end the six-week strike.
The mediator recommended a two-year settlement with wage increases of 4.5% over the course of the agreement. As part of the deal, three employees fired during the strike will get their jobs back.
CUPE Alberta President D’Arcy Lanovaz said that while the wage offer wasn’t as high as the union would have liked, the workers still won. “The employer has been trying to break the union from day one,” said Lanovaz. “There is no question that’s what this strike was about.”
“By agreeing to this offer, the Casino seems to have accepted that CUPE is here to stay, that the workers are a lot stronger than they thought, and that they have to start treating their employees with some respect.”
This was the second vote this weekend after the union accepted the mediator’s settlement. During the first vote, Lanovaz said there was some confusion and concern among the members about the back to work protocol, which settles issues around employees returning to work, and the settling of grievances for actions on the picket line.
Lanovaz said that during last minute negotiations late into Friday evening, the employer agreed to make changes to the protocol, and the union called a new vote.
Employees will return to work Monday.
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For more information about the strike, visit: www.alberta.cupe.ca/casino.htm