Detroit: Smoking ban causing nearly 300 to be laid off at Casino Windsor

United Pro Smoker's Newsletter ^ | July 20, 2006

[SheLion]

Nearly 300 union workers will be laid off by Casino Windsor due to declining revenues caused by Ontario's new smoking ban, casino officials said Wednesday.

The casino, which has nearly 4,000 employees, will lose 297 union workers over the next two weeks and immediately terminate 32 salaried employees, officials said, who also cited an unfavorable exchange rate and high gas prices for the decrease.

The law, which went into effect May 31, bans smoking in all public facilities, including bingo halls, bars, restaurants, sporting venues, stores, office buildings and Casino Windsor.

"This is a day that no one takes lightly. Layoffs or terminations are always a last resort," said Holly Ward, the casino's manager of corporate communications, told The Detroit News. "It's safe to say the business is softening right now. If revenue is declining, we can only wait for so long to react."

Casino officials declined to say how much business had dropped.

Analysts predicted a smoking ban at Casino Windsor would cause the casino to lose business to Detroit's casinos, which allow smoking.

About 80 percent of Casino Windsor customers come from nearby metropolitan Detroit and elsewhere in the United States.

Teresa Roncon, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. in Toronto, which owns Casino Windsor, said the low exchange rate has made Windsor less favorable to gamblers.

Under the current exchange rate, Americans receive $1.13 Canadian for every $1 American. In the past, the exchange has been as high as $1.68 Canadian, luring many Americans across the border.

[Madame Dufarge]

Is it possible that you have no awareness of how utterly tiresome your years' long obsession with smokers is?

Is making a fool of yourself over the issue an actual goal, or are you so caught up in your personal holy war that you're blinded to the obvious?

[383rr]

Thanks for the pings.

I'll be back........

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[elkfersupper]

I had a nice career as a smoker, but I was glad to hang it up.

How is your career as an anti-smoking zealot going?

We're all ready for you to give that up.

[blu]

The title is misleading. The Casino in Detroit is still smoking, I asked on Friday if it was ok to smoke. The guard laughed and said "It's the casino across the river, ya know, Canada?"

So, the Canadian casino is smoke free. Must have something to do with all that "free health care" they get!

[Huck]

your tag line is offensive.

Poor baby.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Until someone's ox is gored, they won't care about the repercussions of their actions.

There is some amusing crap on these threads...

[Raycpa]

I'm sure gas prices, the car manufacturer layoffs and the exchange rate have nothing to do with the drop off in revenues. Yep, only smoking bans caused the decrease.