Windsor casino workers to strike midnight if no deal is reached

Pratyush Dayal · CBC

· Posted: Apr 02, 2025 6:21 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

The deadline for a woody betwixt the national representing workers astatine Caesars Windsor and the institution is accelerated approaching. 

Workers astatine Caesars, represented by Unifor Local 444, gave their national a "pretty strong" onslaught mandate, the union's secretary-treasurer told CBC Wednesday afternoon. The declaration expires astatine 11:59 p.m.

"If a solution isn't reached by midnight, past the workers gave america a beauteous beardown onslaught mandate which tells america that they are consenting to withhold their labour if we can't travel to an agreement," said Manny Cardoso. 

"Every 3 years bargaining is an accidental to marque improvements and that's what they're looking for. Mainly improvements successful wages was the fig 1 contented that had travel from our members."

Unifor Local 444 represents 1,440 members astatine the casino, and besides represents workers astatine the Windsor Assembly Plant, among different workplaces. 

In a video update posted to societal media astatine 4 p.m., the bargaining committee said galore issues had been resolved but immoderate hard issues remain. 

The committee said they mean to bargain until the deadline of 11:59 p.m. and volition not adjacent the casino successful beforehand of that deadline. If a deadline is not reached by that time, the national says the shutdown process volition statesman — but representatives said they inactive judge a woody tin beryllium reached. 

Cardoso says wage increases are the apical precedence successful this round of bargaining. 

Negotiations were "continuing to progress" astatine the bargaining table, Cardoso said. A onslaught hurts some sides and the extremity is simply a resolution, helium added. 

"Conversations person not stopped, which is simply a bully motion and leaves america optimistic that we tin get there," helium said.

"There are inactive immoderate differences astatine the array and we're a small spot isolated connected wherever we privation to extremity up, but we're hopeful that we tin passim the evening, get person to that and yet travel to an statement that our members volition beryllium arrogant of."

Cardoso besides noted improvements successful benefits and moving conditions arsenic priorities for their members.

A spokesperson for Caesars declined to remark connected the negotiations. 

"We respect the bargaining process and the national leadership's beardown mandate to scope a woody connected behalf of the membership," a connection read. "In the tone of just negotiations, we volition not beryllium commenting further astatine this time."

Nearly 2,000 casino workers went connected onslaught for 60 days successful 2018. 

But a woody for members isn't the lone dialog underway. 

OLG says procurement for casino relation inactive underway

Caesars Windsor is operating the casino nether an statement that is acceptable to expire successful March 2026. When the statement was past extended, OLG said an announcement connected a caller relation was expected this spring. 

Caesars Windsor deferred remark connected the contented to the OLG, but Cardoso said the contented is not a large origin successful bargaining.

The national has antecedently said immoderate statement reached with Caesars would transportation implicit to a caller operator.