Labor talks are to resume Tuesday between Caesars Windsor and an employees' union whose strike — now in its 39th day — has shut down the riverfront casino and hotel complex, boosting business at the Detroit casinos.

"Hopefully we come away with a fair and equitable agreement," Dave Cassidy, president of Unifor Local 444, which represents the more than 2,000 unionized Caesars Windsor workers on strike, said in an interview Monday.

The workers have been striking the casino in Canada since April 5 after rejecting a proposed three-year contract. The entire Windsor complex has been closed since then; all concerts and hotel reservations have been canceled through May 31.

With one fewer casino competitor, MotorCity Casino Hotel and MGM Grand Detroit saw an increase in business and a jump in year-over-year gambling revenue of 4% and 3%, respectively, in the month of April, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

Greektown Casino-Hotel saw its gambling revenues slide by 0.5% for the month.

The Caesars shutdown was a likely factor in the higher gaming revenues in Detroit, which probably picked up some of that business, said Alex Calderone, managing director of Birmingham-based Calderone Advisory Group.

However, a portion of the increase could be a result of the recent federal tax cuts, which have fattened some U.S. workers' paychecks since about late February.

The Detroit casinos' gaming revenue figures don't cite their actual profits or include their many nongaming revenue sources such as hotel rooms, banquets and food sales.

"We’ll never know for sure, but I do have a strong suspicion that the closure of Windsor has resulted in more dollars flowing across the border," Calderone said. “The longer that casino is closed, the better it is for Detroit."

Contract negotiations between Caesars Windsor and the union have been at a standstill since April 18, Cassidy said.

The union considers wage increases, time-off request procedures and the replacement of union-run restaurants inside the casino with nonunion businesses as primary points of contention.

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The rejected contract included a $1.75-per-hour wage increase over three years for full-time and part-time employees. That would have been a 9.4% increase to the average wage rate, and would have brought the average wage rate to $20.42 (in Canadian dollars) over the three-year contract.

The rejected contract also had signing bonuses of $1,150 for full-time workers and $900 for part-time workers. The contract did not call for any reductions in benefits.

Cassidy, the union's president, declined to disclose the union's counteroffer for wages. But he noted Ontario's minimum wage rose 20% in January to $14 per hour from $11.60 per hour, and is set to hit $15 an hour in January 2019.

Workers also are frustrated with the casino's time-off request system. The system gives no preference to seniority, Cassidy said, compelling some employees to sleep in their car outside the casino to be near the head of the line to request Christmas Day off.

Caesars Windsor is owned by the government's Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., which does not disclose the financial performance of its individual casino properties.

Cassidy said the casino's management has not shared with union leaders any of the property's financials. Yet the management contends the casino is struggling.

Cassidy said he is skeptical of management's claim. He pointed out that in March the City of Windsor received a $10-million check — its largest ever — from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. for its annual payment for being a casino host city.

"We hear 'we aren't making any money,' but I can tell you, you don't hand out multimillion-dollar checks if you're not making any money," Cassidy said.

Caesars Windsor declined comment and the Ontario government has not responded to past Free Press inquiries about whether Caesars Windsor is profitable.

The last strike by Caesars Windsor workers lasted 42 days in 2004 and reportedly hurt the casino in its competition for regional market share with the Detroit casinos.

Calderone, the financial consultant, said the current strike has gone on long enough to probably harm the casino's future business — once the strike does finally end. 

“Management should be concerned about some measure of erosion or loss of patron loyalty," he said. "People aren’t happy to receive news that their concert was cancelled or their hotel room was cancelled. That doesn’t look good."

Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JCReindl.