At a time when it was informing the public that activities at the four casinos in the province would be gradually resuming, the Société des casinos du Québec (SCQ) has announced layoffs of 2,250 employees across the province. CUPE represents close to 50% of the unionized employees in these establishments.

“Whether the issue is honouring the seniority of employees or abiding by some other consideration called for in our collective agreements, we will be vigilant in ensuring that our members’ rights will not be breached during this difficult process. We will especially be there to oversee the return to work of persons temporarily laid off, as the casinos will recover from this gruelling period. We will be watching each step closely. There will be new ways of doing things, but rest assured, the casinos will bounce back,” declared CUPE Quebec director, Marc Ranger.

On July 2, close to 2,250 letters of notice will be sent out, and the layoffs will take effect on July 21, 2020. Note that, since the pandemic began, online activity represented the SCQ’s lone commercial operations.