Refinery defers spring turnaround until May
Amid the COVID -19 pandemic the Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) has announced its spring turnaround will be deferred until May.
In a statement, the CRC said the annual project was initially scheduled to start at the beginning of April. The work requires hundreds of additional workers, many of whom come from out of the city and province.
“At this time, it is simply not safe for our employees or our community to have additional people arriving on site while the threat of COVID -19 exists,” said the CRC in an emailed statement.
The new start date for turnaround will be informed in consultation with provincial health officials, but is tentatively set for May 15. The CRC is part of the Saskatchewan Critical Infrastructure Network and it will “will continue to produce fuel during this time,” according to the company.
Unifor Local 594 and the CRC are still at odds over the breakdown down of bargaining.
Workers have been locked out since Dec. 5 but recently mediation concluded between both sides, aided by provincially appointed special mediator Vince Ready.
In February, when Unifor announced plans for its annual turnaround, it intended to house additional workers on site because of the ongoing labour dispute.
“We didn’t want to have the picket line as a concern so we did move to a temporary structure on site which we believe will create efficiencies,” Brad Delorey, director of communications and public affairs for Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), said at that time.
Trailers to house those contracted workers were moved on site in February with the turnaround originally set to begin in early April.