Contract Negotiation Simulation

DIAMOND CASINO

You will be provided with funther information and instructions regarding an analysis and a posible renewal of the collective apreement provided below between the Provincial Lottery Copporation and the Gaming Employecs Union. Assume that the casino operated by the corporation is located in the major urhan centre of your province. The current agreement expires on the date specified by your instructor.

Background

The Provincial Lottery Copporation operates the Diamond Casino, located in a major urban centre of the province. The casino opend five years aso, and employees at the casino are represented by the Gaming Employees Union, which was certified four years ago. The parties negotiated their fint collective agreement, which is expiring shortly. The casino operates $24$ hours a day, running three eight$-$hour shifts employing $400$ people. Threehundred sixty casino staff belong to the union. The job classifications are shown in Schedule A of the collective agrecment. The casino has three revenue$-$producing departments: slot machines, table garnes, and a restauranthur. Dealers may be trained and experienced in one or more table games, including blackjack, poker, roulette, and baccarat. Attendance and revenues have been declining over the term of the agrecment. It appears $-$ that the novelty of the casino has worn off and new marketing efforts may be required. The value of the Canadian dollar and the opening of new casinos in the United States are both influencing the number of U$.$S$.$ patrons.

Issues Arising Under the Current Agreement

A number of isues have arisen during the administration of the current threc$-$year collective agreement.

Temporary Shift Supervisors. The agreement provides that employees in the bargaining unit may temporarily work as shift supervisors. The employer has interpreted this provision to mean that employees do not accumulate seniority or pay union dues while serving as a shift supervisor. In the last round of contract negotiations, the union put forward a demand that employees on temporary shift super assignments would accumulate seniority and have dues deducted from their pay. The union eventually withdrew the proposil.

Employee Appearance As part of its dress c$$de$,$ the employer adopted a rule prohibiting male security guards from wearing earrings. The union filed a grievance, and an arbitrator found that the rule was unreasonable and ordered that it be deleted from the policy. On another occasion employees started to wear dime$-$sized union pins. When the employer directed employees to remove the pins, the union filed a grievance.

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An arbitrator upheld the grievance, and some employees are now wearing the pins. Several managers strongly feel that the union pins are inappropriate when worn by employees while on duty.

Absenteeism and Turnover Ahsenteeism has been a problem. The casino has found that ahsenteeism is $50$ percent higher than normal on days before and after public holidays. Several employees have been disciplined for ahsentecism. In one case, an employee who did not come to work because he was attending a friend's funeral was given a written waming. Subsequently, the same employee was ahsent because he was attending the funeral of a cousin. The casino suspended the employce for three day; however, the suspension was reduced after the union filed a grievance. Another employee was extremely upset when her mother died because she had to travel $2000$ kilometres each way, and she was advised that the agreement provided her with only two days' leave. Many employees who have quit have given only a few days notice.

Work Done by Management When the casino fint opened, the employer scheduled more employees to work each shift than it currently does. Supervisors have been used by the employer to cover employee breaks and on occasions when employees leave early. The union is concerned that the employer is not scheduling a sufficient number of employees for some shifts and is using the supervisors to do hargaining unit work.

Meals An employee is scheduled one unpaid meal break during their regular shift. Two paid breaks are also scheduled during the first half and Lot part of the employee's scheduled work period. However, neither party is pleasd with the curnent contract provisions relating to meal allowances when an employee must work overtime. Some employees think that they should receive a voucher to cover the cost of a meal in the casino restaurant. The union is concernd because the $$7$ meal allowance when employees work overtime is not sufficient to cover the cost of a meal in the casino restaurant, and the allowance has not increased over the term of the agreement. The employer is mot pleosd with the overtime provision because there is no minimum number of overtime hours that must be worked. Some employes have worked only a few minutes of overtime and are still entitled to the meal allowance under the current pract