Cascades Casino Kamloops Strike
KAMLOOPS — As the strike of Cascades Casino employees enters a second day, employer Gateway Casinos is reminding the public they are still open for business.
- Around 700 members and four casinos around the Interior are impacted by the new deal, including Cascades Casino here in Kamloops. The strike started on June 29.
- Last week, nearly 700 BC Government Employees Union (BCGEU) workers in Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon voted 93.1 per cent in favour of strike action. More than 200 of those members are employed at Cascades Casino in Kamloops.
- Unionized employees at all four casinos, including some 200 workers at Cascades Casino in Kamloops, have been on strike since June 29. Workers have walked the picket line for the past nine weeks in.
The strike began days after contract talks broke down between the 702 unionized workers and Gateway Casinos, the operator of Playtime in Kelowna, Lake City in Vernon, and Cascades in Penticton and Kamloops. In Kamloops, revenues at Cascades Casino climbed 29 per cent to $31.4M, but still, falling short of 2017/18’s peak of $35.2M. At Cascade’s Penticton, revenues in 2019/2020 grew 18 per cent to.
In an open letter to customers Gateway said the Kamloops Casino would remain open during the labour disruption with a few changes.
Table games, the Match Eatery, and Atlas Steak + Fish will remain closed.
Lottery payouts will be capped at $500, suspending the casino’s designation as a regional prize payout centre until the strike ends.
Cascades Casino Kamloops Strike 2019
The months-long strike at Cascades Casino in Kamloops is not going to have a major impact on the bottom line for the city as it prepares the 2019 budget.
Cascades Casino Kamloops Strike News
Under normal circumstances, the city could be losing up to $200,000 a month due to the work stoppage.
However, the Director of Finance Kathy Humphrey says they got a lot more revenue from Chances Casino, which almost leveled the playing field.
Cascades Casino Kamloops Strike 2020
“Obviously, the overall revenue for the city from gaming revenue is down a little bit, but the Chances Casino picked up a lot of the business from Cascades Casino being on strike,” she said.
“Overall as the city, we are estimating it’s probably only down a couple hundred thousand dollars for the year if in fact the casino gets running again shortly.”
Cascades Casino Kamloops Strike Update
Close to 700 members of the B-C Government Employees Union will be voting on a tentative settlement over the coming days which could end the strike at Cascades Casino.