Loto-Québec announced on Tuesday that all its CSN-affiliated staff, the union representing security agents, first cooks, slot attendants, and housekeepers at its four casinos in the province, have agreed to end a general strike that began June 23.
The union accepted a recommendation brought forth by the Ministère du Travail conciliator, Loto-Québec announced in a statement. The crown corporation is “pleased to have reached a responsible agreement that ends the strike,” they added.
Details will come out over the coming days, but the crown corporation and the union had been locked in a struggle over salary increases. The union was demanding increases of 24 percent over three years, which Loto-Québec said was more than double what was agreed on with the rest of the organization’s employees over the past year.
The union represents 1,700 employees in the casinos and online gaming in non-gaming functions.
Shift premiums were another priority for the union, Riccardo Scopelleti, president of the Casino de Montreal-CSN security workers’ unit, told CDC Gaming Reports in July.
Loto-Québec operates Casino de Montreal, Hotel-Casino du Lac-Leamy, Casino de Mont-Tremblant, Hotel-Casino de Charlevoix, and two gaming halls, Salon de jeux de Québec and Salon de jeux de Trois-Rivières.
Operations will gradually resume as these employees return to work in the coming weeks. LotoQuébec asks customers to visit the casino websites to find out when the gaming locations are open and what services are available.
Scopelleti had referenced the anger among union employees when seeing the increase in total revenues reported by Loto-Québec for the last fiscal year and increases in bonuses and salaries for executives, when they’re being offered 2.5 percent.
CDC Gaming Reports will have more details on the deal in the coming days.
