Brantford casino lockout

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Employees at the Brantford casino swarmed around their workplace in protest. The OLG and the worker’s union have not been able to reach a collective agreement and now, employees are locked out.

With the province looking to privatize all Ontario casinos, it means new negotiations and contracts. Unifor has been at the table for over three months, but talks broke off yesterday because the Union were unsatisfied with the pension plan negotiations.

The lockout began at 12:01 Saturday morning. The casino was still open, but people were forced to wait and gave workers the chance to explain. Now the union says the OLG’s plan to privatize is not the problem. They say they are not asking for any more, but what they do want is the pension they agreed upon when they began work and they say the OLG is simply not letting that happen. The OLG says their plan is comfortable and has been accepted by others.

The casino workers are not sure how long they will be sitting out on the streets, but the OLG says they are prepared to bring talks back to the bargaining table. Workers seem eager to listen and return to work.