Published: April 07, 2009 7:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
Vernon’s casino is being accused of dealing staff a bad hand. The B.C. Government and Service Employees Union claims 31 workers will be replaced by electronic table games when Lake City Casinos opens its new Anderson Way outlet in June. “Some of these workers, who will be laid off as of June 10, have worked at the casino in various departments for up to 22 years,” said Darryl Walker, BCGEU president, in a release. According to Walker, the workers have been told by the employer that they can choose to apply for 15 new restaurant positions but management will “determine their compatibility for these jobs.” “They are being told that a culinary assessment expert will evaluate their suitability for these serving jobs according to physical, personality and entertainment criteria,” said Walker. “Our union will be closely monitoring to ensure there is no discrimination in the hiring process.” The prospect of losing staff has angered at least one regular customer.
“They are all so friendly,” said Barry Roman, who plays cards at the casino. And Roman says some customers have talked about launching a protest. “If they go to computerized machines, maybe we will boycott the place,” he said. “When the decision was made to make the place bigger, it was supposed to hire more people and it’s not going that way.” Casino officials confirm there will be electronic table games when the new facility opens, but they are not willing to get into specific details about how many staff will be affected. “It will include the majority of our existing staff but some may not chose to transfer to the new site,” said Jackie Hutchinson, chief operating officer of Gateway Casinos, which owns Lake City Casinos. Hutchinson would not say if there will be layoffs, but indicated that some staff will have new duties. “The beverage roles will change.” Hutchinson defends the introduction of electronic table games and believes they will become popular with clients. “We want to offer the very best of what’s available,” she said. “We are certainly excited about the Vernon product and it will be a full-service facility.”
Currently, the City of Vernon is considering a bylaw that would allow the new casino to legally have 400 slot machines instead of the 300 that are permitted. But while he says he’s concerned about any potential layoffs, Coun. Jack Gilroy insists that staffing levels at the casino should not be tied to the bylaw before council. “We can’t tell people how to run their business. That’s insane,” he said. Gilroy anticipates there will be employment opportunities in the bar and restaurant, and he isn’t convinced electronic table games will be popular with customers. “I can’t see them running tables without dealers. People like having dealers there,” he said. The BCGEU currently has about 80 members at Lake City Casinos in Vernon.
-----------------
No comments:
Post a Comment