Gateway Casino Kelowna
Workers in Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton will walk off the job on June 29.
Gateway Casino gets first federal loan for big employers, worth $200M Feds loan casinos $200M. The Canadian Press. Virus cases at 3 schools Kelowna - 4:13 pm. More Top Stories. Gateway’s holdings includes casinos in Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton. “The company believes that it is unlikely that there will be sufficient time before June 30, 2020 to complete an. The highest ranked casinos are listed at the casino review site. Check out the eurofortune bonus page for new deals found on casinoeurofortune.fr. Gateway Casino is one of the leading gaming operators in Western Canada. They have nine casinos which operate in Alberta and in British Columbia. It is composed of two Chances Gaming Centres and one. When Gateway bought out the casino from OLG in 2017 they fired the majority of full-time staff. They sugar coated it in the media mentioning layoffs but that's an outright lie. Guys working there 20 years (since the place opened) were given severance and a boot out the door.
Okanagan, B.C. (09 July 2018) — Over 675 members of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUGPE) working at Gateway Casinos in the Okanagan walked off the job at 3:01 pm on June 29. Casino workers at Cascades Kamloops, Cascades Penticton, Playtime Kelowna and Lake City Vernon are set to strike after mediation broke down.
Workers looking for industry standard wages
'Our members are asking for living wages that would bring them in-line with the industry standard for casino workers in BC,' says Stephanie Smith, BCGEU President. 'These workers are the heart of their casinos. Gateway is a successful company in a highly profitable industry — they can afford to pay their staff what they are worth.'
Smith explains that 'by paying workers living wages, the money that Gateway makes in the Okanagan stays in the local economy instead of going to Vancouver, or even Ontario, where Gateway owns several large properties.'
In a vote held from June 4 to 6, over 88 per cent of Gateway staff in all four Okanagan casinos came out and voted 93.1 per cent in favour of taking strike action. On June 25, the union delivered the required 72-hours-notice of strike action.
Gateway's Okanagan staff have been trying to negotiate a new collective agreement since the last one expired in September 2017.
Employer's wage proposal won't keep ahead of minimum wage increases
Negotiations broke off in May after the employer refused to offer wages and benefits that are industry standard at comparable casinos. Both parties met for a few days of mediated talks over the past 2 weeks but could not reach an agreement on key monetary issues.
Smith says the employer's offer is unacceptable. 'The wages Gateway are offering won't even keep ahead of the planned minimum wage increases.'
'Our members will be standing strong on the picket lines until they get a fair offer from the company.'
BCGEU/NUPGE represents around 675 staff spread across Gateway's four casinos in the Okanagan: Playtime Casino in Kelowna, Lake City Casino in Vernon, and Cascades Casinos in Kamloops and Penticton. BCGEU members work in table games, as slot attendants, cashiers, in the count room, kitchen, security, guest services, and maintenance.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 390,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. — NUPGE
| Private | |
| Industry | Gaming |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992; 28 years ago |
| Headquarters | Burnaby, British Columbia |
| Products | Entertainment, Gambling, Food and Beverage, Hotel |
| Revenue | Over $200.0 million[citation needed] |
Number of employees | 3,000 |
| Website | gatewaycasinos.com |
Gateway Casinos and Entertainment is a Canadian gaming and entertainment operator. It operates 23 casinos in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The corporate offices of Gateway Casinos and Entertainment are located in Burnaby, British Columbia. It is owned by The Catalyst Capital Group Inc., a private equity investment firm founded in 2002.[1]
History[edit]
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited is one of the largest casino and entertainment companies in Western Canada and has grown from 2 facilities with 150 employees to 12 facilities with over 3,000 employees.
Properties include The Grand Villa Casino & Convention Centre Burnaby, Starlight Casino New Westminster, Cascades Resort Casino Langley, The Lake City Casinos (Vernon, Kamloops, Kelowna & Penticton) in the Okanagan, The Baccarat and Palace Casinos in Edmonton, the Chances Community Gaming Centres in Squamish, Mission, Kamloops and Newton Bingo in Surrey.
Starting in 1992, Gateway Casinos has provided operational services for casinos in the Greater Vancouver Regional District of British Columbia. In April 1992, Gateway Casinos acquired two casino operations in the Vancouver area: a 5,000 square foot facility on the second floor of the Mandarin Centre in Vancouver’s Chinatown and a smaller 4,000 square foot operation on the top floor of the Royal Towers Hotel in New Westminster, BC.
In March 1994, Gateway Casinos purchased a third casino, located in Maple Ridge, British Columbia with the intention of relocation in the future, which ultimately became Gateway’s Burnaby Casino.
June 1994 saw the Gateway relocation of the Vancouver casino from the small premises on the second floor of the Mandarin Centre to newly renovated premises in the same building. At this time, Mandarin Centre was the largest casino in British Columbia. In January 1996, Gateway Casinos relocated its operation in New Westminster from the top floor to expanded premises within the hotel.
Gateway Casinos ceased operating the casino in Maple Ridge in November 1996. The new operation was opened on the second floor of the parkade across from the now Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby, British Columbia.
November 1999 saw the Gateway acquisition of the Palace Casino (now Starlight Casino) in Edmonton, Alberta where an extensive renovation which more than doubled the size of the facility, was substantially completed in October 2001.
The year 2002 was pivotal for Gateway due to the acquisition of the Baccarat Casino in Edmonton, Alberta, in June[2] and the August purchase of the Lake City Casinos in Penticton, Kelowna, Kamloops and Vernon.
In May 2005 Gateway Casinos opened the Cascades Casino in the heart of Langley, British Columbia[3] which brought about a new era of gaming for the company, boasting over 60,000 square feet of gaming space, 77-room hotel and more than 25,000 square feet of convention space operated by Coast Hotels & Resorts Limited.
The Starlight Casino and Grand Villa Casino were opened in 2007 and 2008 respectively and are currently operating as Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited’s flagship properties.In 2011 Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited purchased three existing Community Gaming Centres located in Squamish, Mission and the Newton Surrey area. In April 2015 Gateway Casinos & Entertainment revealed its plans to build brand new casino located in the Edmonton Arena District.[4]
In December 2015 Gateway casinos bought Playtime Gaming Inc.[5] expanding their properties with 4 new CGC (community gaming centers) and 2 commercial bingo halls making them the largest casino company in British Columbia.
In December 2016, Gateway casinos purchased 11 Casinos from OLG in Ontario ranging from Thunder Bay to London with rights to build in Kenora and North Bay hereby now employing 6000+ people and making its way into the Ontario market.
In March 2018, Gateway was selected as the service provider for OLG's Central Gaming Bundle, which includes management of Casino Rama and slot operations at Georgian Downs, and the rights to build a new casino in Collingwood or Wasaga Beach.[6][7]
Properties[edit]
Western Canada
- Baccarat Casino (Edmonton) closed 2016
- Cascades Casino, Hotel and Convention Centre (Langley City)
- Grand Villa Casino (Burnaby)
- Grand Villa Casino Edmonton (Edmonton)
- Playtime Casino (Kelowna)
- Lake City Casinos
- Kamloops Casino (Kamloops)
- Penticton Casino (Penticton)
- Vernon Casino (Vernon)
- Starlight Casino former Palace Casino (Edmonton)
- Starlight Casino (New Westminster)
- Chances Mission (Mission)
- Chances Squamish (Squamish)
- Newton Community Gaming Centre (Surrey)
- Chances Abbotsford
- Chances Campbell River
- Chances Courtney
- Langley Bingo
- Chances Kamloops
Eastern Canada
- Thunder Bay
- Sudbury
- London
- Point Edward
- Woodstock
- Dresden closed
- Clinton
- Hanover
- Innisfil
- Chatham (opened 2019)
References[edit]
- ^'About Us'. Gateway Casinos and Entertainment.
- ^'Baccarat Casino to be replaced by upscale entertainment and gaming facility'. Edmonton Journal. April 14, 2015.
- ^'Cascades Casino Resort Celebrates its 10th Anniversary'. Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited. April 29, 2015.
- ^Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Plans a Premier Casino in the EAD
- ^'Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited Acquires Playtime Gaming'. newswire.ca. Dec 23, 2015.
- ^Ian Adams (March 15, 2018). 'OLG picks operator for casinos in Innisfil, Casino Rama'. Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
- ^'OLG selects service provider for Central Gaming Bundle (Press release)'. Business Insider. March 15, 2018.
