Grosvenor Casino workers vote to strike in London
Casinos in London may have to close over the weekend as Grosvenor staff vote to strike.
UK.- Staff at Grosvenor Casino venues in London have voted to go on strike over pay this weekend, from 6pm on Friday September 9 to 6am on Monday September 12. Members of the Unite trade union said they expected casinos in London would have to close over the weekend as a result.
Those going on strike are mainly croupiers and dealers, but food and beverage waiting and kitchen staff are also expected to take part in the action. The strike will affect all seven Grosvenor Casino venues in London: The Barracuda, The Gloucester, The Golden Horseshoe, The Park Tower, The Rialto, The St Giles and The Victoria.
Grosvenor Casino has around 150 workers across its London casinos. Some 91 per cent of staff have rejected the retention bonus payments of £600 and £800 offered by the operator, which belongs to Rank Group.
Unite said the offer was inadequate in light of the current cost of living crisis and that Grosvenor Casinos can afford to make a more realistic offer after making profits of £74m for the year to date.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Here we go again: Grosvenor Casinos is another big money company that is raking it in but refusing to pay its workers a wage that they can live on. It’s just not acceptable and this huge vote for action underscores the sense of anger across this workforce.
“Our members at Grosvenor Casinos will have Unite’s full backing in this fight for a fair deal.”
Unite’s national officer for the hospitality sector Dave Turnball said: “Grosvenor Casinos need to understand that this workforce is united, and more workers are joining Unite every day. London is one of the most expensive cities on earth for workers to survive in, which is why the message from the members could not be clearer: only a substantial uplift in pay will do.
“Grosvenor Casino’s chronic recruitment and retention issues prove that the current pay rates are just not sustainable. [Failure to] improve pay is just not an option.”
BGC calls for “urgent action” on energy prices for UK’s land-based gaming sector
The British gaming industry lobby and standard association The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has called for urgent action on energy prices to avoid a “catastrophic” impact on land-based gaming operations. It’s calling on the UK’s next prime minister to tackle the increasing burden of energy costs for the hospitality and leisure sectors.
The BGC said that Britain’s 121 land-based casinos and 6,500 betting shops were being hit hard by soaring energy bills along with the rest of the hospitality sector. It reminded the government that the sector directly employs 44,000 people and supports a further 48,000 jobs, while contributing £4bn to the UK economy and generating £2bn in taxes each year.
