A lengthy labour dispute is being blamed for a sharp decline in casino payouts to the City of Windsor.
On Friday, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) released its payout figures for Ontario casinos for the first quarter of 2018.
The City of Windsor is receiving a non-tax payment of $1,210,030 for hosting Caesars Windsor.
However, this payout is 65% lower from the same period in 2017, when the city received over $3.5-million from OLG.
The payment is also down from the fourth quarter of 2017, which covers January to March 2018. The city received $2,054,299 for that quarter, which is still a decline of about 40%.
Caesars Windsor employees walked off the job April 5 in a dispute over wages and job security. The strike had a significant impact on local tourism with casino visitors seeking venues in Detroit and elsewhere. The employees ratified a new contract two months later.
In Chatham-Kent, the OLG issued a payment of $263,228 for hosting Gateway Casinos in Dresden for the first quarter of 2018, a 37% increase over the fourth-quarter of 2017. It is not clear, however, if this increase is tied to the Caesars Windsor strike.
