Unifor threatens to disrupt access to fuel for seeding

Saying it has run out of options, Unifor Local 594 is warning farmers that it will begin disrupting access to fuel as seeding gets underway.

In an open letter to farmers published this week on its website, the union representing workers at the Co-op Refinery Complex asked food producers in Saskatchewan to help them get back to work by contacting their MLAS and Co-op boards.

“We are in a position where disrupting the flow of fuel to farmers during seeding is the only option we have to get back to work. We do not want to do that, but our options are limited when the company does not want a deal,” reads the letter.

After access to a Co-op site in Moose Jaw was disrupted last week, the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) issued a statement asking for both sides to reach a solution so that fuel supplies would not be disturbed.

APAS president Todd Lewis is asking that farmers be left out of the dispute and treated as a neutral party. He said weighing in would only “add fuel to the fire.”

“There’s no advantage on picking sides from a producer’s standpoint,” said Lewis during a phone interview on Thursday.

Lewis said a fuel disruption would add “insult to injury” for farmers, many of whom are still trying to catch up on last year’s harvest before they enter a tight window to get seeding done. There’s less time this year due to a cold and wet spring. Lewis said farmers rely on the cardlocks because in many areas it’s their only nearby source of fuel.

“I think there’s lots of opportunity for both sides get their point across without disrupting farmers at such a critical time in their production cycle,” said Lewis.

Kevin Bittman, president of Unifor Local 594, agreed farmers are a neutral party, but said they are also crossing a legal picket line to get fuel. “They can say that they want to stay neutral, but in the same breath, they weren’t supporting us before we were out at the bulk stations. What we’re doing is telling them to phone Federated and say, ‘Look it, this needs to end.’ Everybody thinks this needs to end except for Federated Co-op,” said Bittman.

He clarified that Unifor is not blocking farmers from accessing the fuel stations entirely. Instead, members are slowing them down

Our options are limited when the company does not want a deal.

and communicating their message.

Lewis said APAS was contacted by Federated Co-op Limited (FCL) last week after issuing its news release. Lewis would also be willing to speak with the union.

On April 29, the union rejected FCL’S final offer by a vote of 89 per cent. Although Unifor is asking farmers to reach out to their MLAS, Premier Scott Moe has rejected calls for binding arbitration.

Vince Ready, a special mediator appointed by the province, had filed a report with recommendations that offered “significant cost savings,” to the employer, but it was rejected by FCL.

Throughout the labour dispute, the refinery has continued to produce and ship refined oil using replacement workers. The company has said it is confident it can continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

— With files from Alec Salloum mmelnychuk@postmedia.com