Gateway Casinos worker strike close to an end

The BCGEU explained that it has reached a tentative agreement with Gateway casinos after a four-month strike.

Canada.- A casino worker strike that has been haunting Gateway Casinos since June 29 seems to be coming to an end. The British Columbia Government Employees Union (BGCEU) revealed that it has reached a tentative agreement with the company and the 650 employees may soon go back to work.

“After many days of extensive and vigorous bargaining we reached a tentative agreement with the employer,” the BGCEU said in an e-mail sent to media outlet Global News on Thursday morning. It also said that the full details of the agreement will be published at ratification hearings next week, and explained that picket lines will remain in place.

More than 650 casino workers in Vernon, Kelowna, Kamloops and Penticton have been on strike since June 29, and talks had stopped after mediation broke off September 22. However, Gateway Casinos said that it can confirm “that a tentative collective agreement has been reached with our BCGEU union employees in the Thompson Okanagan.”

The company further stated that it is reviewing terms of the tentative agreement while it waits for the BGCEU to confirm the resolution of the strike.