Westspiel workers stage a demonstration.
The staff at the Westspiel casino in Bad Oeynhausen are presently demonstrating to preserve their workspace. They have received support from the local SPD parliamentary group. Since May 2018, the government of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) had been planning to privatize the state-owned Westspiel GmbH, which would affect four casinos. What changes might we see?
The Casino Important for Bad Oeynhausen
The employees at the Bad Oeynhausen casino are campaigning for their work location and are currently raising awareness of their condition. Recently, Reiner Barg, the chair of the citizens of Bad Oeynhausen (BBO) parliamentary group, spoke to the municipal council about his concerns. Barg requested "collective solidarity" from the local authority regarding protecting the casino's location. Approximately 100 employees of the casino fear job losses due to the projected privatization of the state-owned Westspiel GmbH. The entire casino could be at risk, according to BBO.
Barg's speech was directed at the CDU parliamentary group, who should also agree to a location guarantee even if Düsseldorf's black-yellow coalition is trying to sell the gaming business. The preservation of the casino and its staff is vital for Bad Oeynhausen. In a short statement, CDU parliamentary group leader Kurt Nagel commented in favor of a location guarantee:
"Of course, we also have an interest in retaining the casino in Bad Oeynhausen. And, of course, we'll vote in favor of the resolution."
SPD Support
The SPD parliamentary group has been supporting the Westspiel representatives for some time, including their most recent meeting. During the meeting, SPD parliamentary group chairman Olaf Winkelmann reassured the roughly 30 employees present of his support regarding the requested location guarantee. He emphasized that the casino, created in 1980, is not just a significant employer but also "a major selling point for the town of Bad Oeynhausen." The chairman also told local media that the SPD was adamantly opposed to the sale of Westspiel. If privatized, however, a location guarantee would be crucial.
Required Intermediary from Düsseldorf
In this context, BBO spokesperson Reiner Barg once again called for the Düsseldorf government to assign an intermediary regarding their sell plans. Barg said, "An intermediary should answer any questions in Bad Oeynhausen." However, the administration has not yet complied with this request.
"If the government persistently refuses to grant us an intermediary, it's a sign that they have no good arguments," Barg declared. The assertion that the Westspiel casinos would inevitably experience permanent losses is already invalid. Barg concluded, "If the government can't objectively justify the sale, something's amiss. We want to force the state government to be more open."
Resolution by the Mayor
As a result of the protest, the Bad Oeynhausen town council issued a resolution to Mayor Achim Wilmsmeier to connect with the Düsseldorf government. The objectives involved clarifying where location guarantees were regulated in the code of law and if Westspiel GmbH had any plans to "improve" this. Additionally, he would inquire about the reasons for privatizing the casinos. Wilmsmeier verified his mission to contact the other three Westspiel locations to discuss a "joint strategy."
More Locations at Risk
NRW's government first presented its plans to privatize Westspiel GmbH in May 2018, intending to sell all four land-based casinos (Aachen, Dortmund/Hohensyburg, Duisburg, and Bad Oeynhausen) to a single licensee. The investor could potentially claim two additional sites. A relevant amendment to the law has been in the works since September 2018.
Around 1,000 employees are impacted by this move. All employees are now protesting the sale of the corporation and defending their jobs. Protests are occurring not just in Bad Oeynhausen but also in Dortmund, where employee representative Michael Jütte is demanding a job guarantee from the government. "I can't see that our legitimate interests are considered," Jütte declared.
NRW's Finance Minister Lutz Lienenkämper claimed the opposite, asserting that the new draft law "significantly contributes to taking employees' interests into account during the sales process."
However, the Dortmund works council is skeptical of this: According to them, the law firm representing the responsible NRW bank had only promised the employees job security for two years. Nevertheless, this only applied if the employees agreed to make concessions "to the previous conditions."
The primary reason the government is advocating for privatization is the claim of inefficiency. They argue that the expected business goals were not reached in 2016, despite gross gaming revenue of 80.4 million euros - resulting in a loss of 2.9 million euros. Finance Minister Lienenkämper described the company as "constantly losing money and poorly managed," going on to say "a substantial amount of cash was wasted."
However, the casinos dispute these claims, citing the absence of a 2017 annual report during the review process. They consider the move towards privatization to be "financially pointless," as gross gaming revenue increased from 79.6 million euros in 2015 to 92.3 million euros in 2018. The government has not yet commented on the recent figures. We'll have to wait and see what develops.
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Source: www.onlinecasinosdeutschland.com
