CRC, Unifor dispute not good for city: councillor
Worried about the reputation of the City of Regina if the labour dispute between Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) and Unifor 594 continues, a city councillor is joining the call for binding arbitration.
“I’ve even read accounts from the United States, read accounts from Europe actually that are writing about this,” Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens said. “What they see are Regina Police Service officers handcuffing union leaders. They are seeing an employer that is asking for the imprisonment of union leaders, massive fines.
“The city has been seen as helping the refinery more than the residents and the workers on the picket line.”
As the dispute is poised to enter its third month and the two parties enter a second week with a provincially-appointed special mediator — which is non-binding — Stevens said the costs to the community’s reputation and economy are rising.
And although it’s not an issue that falls in municipal jurisdiction, he said council members are “feeling it” and have been since the start of the lockout on Dec. 5. The truckers’ association, trucking companies, individual residents and now more and more union members are reaching out to council.
“I think it’s important that we acknowledge this is a cost and impact in the community. And secondly, that we want to make sure that, should the special meditator fail to bring both parties closer to an agreement, that the government needs to consider binding arbitration as a possibility,” said Stevens.
It’s why he’s bringing forward a notice of motion to Wednesday’s city council meeting that calls on the provincial government to “use all the tools at its disposal, up to and including legislation that allows for binding third party arbitration.”
The motion says the escalation of police involvement in the dispute has been the result of political pressure, has increased cost to taxpayers and drawn police resources away from more important public safety activities.
Unifor 594 has pressed the provincial government and premier publicly for binding arbitration. However, the Co-op has repeatedly rejected it, saying in a statement earlier this month that “binding arbitration is not the path to ending the labour dispute.”
Experts have said that while the provincial government can legally order binding arbitration, it is rare in the private sector and when it does occur, it’s because both sides have consented.
Stevens believes the refinery is rejecting binding arbitration because “it has the upper hand,” continuing operations.
CRC is prepared to weather the storm longer than the workers, argued Stevens, and the government is inclined to side with employers. While it is rare, it has happened — in Saskatchewan and federally — he added, pointing to backto-work legislation passed under Stephen Harper’s Conservatives directed at the private sector, under the Saskatchewan Party at University of Saskatchewan workers, and under Grant Devine’s Conservatives during a private sector dispute involving dairy producers and workers.
Ironically, he said, Premier Scott Moe called on the federal government to order binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation in November during the CN strike.
“Chances are slim simply because it’s rarely done, but it’s done in extreme circumstances,” Stevens said. “I think this is an extreme circumstance.”
Mayor Michael Fougere declined to comment on the motion until city council on Wednesday.
About 700 unionized refinery workers have been locked out since Dec. 5. On Feb. 12, the provincial government appointed Vince Ready, a special mediator to facilitate talks between the two parties. He began his work on Feb. 18. Mediation continues this week.