For Immediate Release – Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
REGINA – The Public Service Alliance of Canada is calling on Casino Regina to reconsider its decision to provide practically no support to their workers as the crown corporation temporarily closes its doors amidst the COVID-19 pandemic response in Saskatchewan. The casino closed their doors to patrons on March 17th at 4 am. With PSAC’s pressure, they agreed to keep the schedule as planned for all shifts until close of business on March 20th to allow workers to shut the casino operations down. Workers will then be forced to use their sick and vacation leave to account for any missed days of work during this shutdown of unknown length or go without pay.
“Asking people to drain their sick leave and vacation for an international pandemic where we have no idea how long these precautionary measures will last is completely unacceptable, said Michelle Lang, President of PSAC Local 40005. “Casino Regina is doing the right thing for the health and safety of our community but the complete wrong thing for the well-being of their own workers.”
Casino Regina has only offered workers the ability to advance their sick and vacation leave for the next year to cover their forced time off due to COVID-19. Once those banks are exhausted, workers are on their own. At the end of December 2019, Sask Gaming’s own financial statements declared income as $1.4M above budget.
“In extreme circumstances like we are in, we understand the casino cannot responsibly stay open, but we are beyond disappointed that there is no commitment to wage continuity for their workers,” states Marianne Hladun, Regional Executive Vice-President for the Prairie region. “Casino Regina is a Crown Corporation that reports to the Crown Investment Corporation that reports to the Government of Saskatchewan. Its main shareholder is the people of Saskatchewan. I am calling on Premier Moe and Minister Christine Tell (Minister of SLGA) to show strong leadership by not throwing their own workers to the wayside and instead step up to be an example for all employers. The province can and should do much better by their own workers during this unstable and rapidly evolving situation.”
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For more information:
Alanna Makinson
Regional Communications Officer
Cell: 204-292-0585
Email: makinsa@psac-afpc.com