Unifor, Co-op set terms for talks
Company wants blockade to come down, union wants end to replacement workers
REGINA After a week that saw barricades, arrests and an escalation in Unifor’s picket line at the Coop Refinery Complex (CRC), both sides said Thursday that they’re willing to return to bargaining — under certain conditions.
The company says to get back to the table, the barricades must come down.
Unifor says its members will take down the barricades, if the company stops bringing in replacement workers.
And the Regina Police Service (RPS), which says that has been trying to strike a balance between the competing interests, described a meeting between Chief Evan Bray and Unifor’s national president Jerry Dias only as “productive.”
“The two had a frank conversation focused on public safety,” said the RPS statement, which didn’t elaborate further.
Hours earlier, Dias, unable to attend the blockade at the CRC because of release conditions following his arrest for mischief, addressed reporters at the Hotel Saskatchewan.
At one point calling himself inmate 43219, Dias said Unifor is willing to make concessions — but the barricades at the refinery will remain.
In an emailed statement, the CRC reiterated its position: “The company will not return to the bargaining table while Unifor maintains an illegal blockade,” said CRC spokesman Brad Delorey.
The company also said “the CRC has stated consistently that meaningful negotiations require Unifor to drop their preconditions regarding no changes to the pension plan.”
Dias said he had planned to ask Bray for a cooling-off period amid an escalation that boiled over on Monday night when Dias and 13 other pickets were arrested and charged with mischief.
Reflecting on the events of Monday night Dias said he was reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“His saying was ‘one has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws,’ ” he said. To Dias, the fight at the CRC — against laws the he feels systemically target working-class people and their right to picket — is tantamount to disobeying such unjust laws.
His comments came a day after a judge fined Unifor Local 594 $100,000 for contempt of court for breaching an interim injunction, issued Dec. 17.
That same day, the union launched an appeal of another injunction order, issued Dec. 24, that put limits on the pickets.
Unifor said it will fight the fine but maintained its stance that legal action will not end this dispute.
“The laws are stacked against working class people,” charged Dias. “Our members in Regina and our union have chosen not to accept the rules that disadvantage working class people.”
Bray has said he is proud of how his officers handled themselves on Monday evening.
Dias said that for the first five weeks of the lockout, the refinery “had all the chips,” until the union erected a barricade and prevented fuel and chemical trucks from entering the refinery. Preconditions to return to the bargaining table have prevented the parties from meeting, according to Dias.
The terms include tearing down the barricade at Gate 7 and abandoning the position that defined benefit pensions be untouched by the company going forward. “They want all the chips again. That’s not going to happen,” Dias vowed.
On Tuesday night, the union communicated to the CRC that it was willing to remove and alter preconditions.
“We’ve taken both of those preconditions (regarding pensions) off the table. We’re prepared to talk about both of those issues and negotiate a settlement,” said Scott Doherty, lead negotiator and executive assistant to Unifor’s national president. “That’s pretty substantial.”
“That itself should have brought them back to the bargaining table,” said Dias, who called on Premier Scott Moe to show leadership.
“If the nastiest dispute, most violent dispute in decades is unfolding and the potential is there for it to even get more violent, then you have a responsibility not only to talk about the parties getting together but to use your position as the premier of the province of Saskatchewan to make that happen,” said Dias.
Both the Premier and Opposition leader sent letters this week urging both sides to return to bargaining.
Taking aim at the replacement workers at the CRC, Dias accused them of taking the money they’ve earned during the dispute out of the city and province.
In turn, he drew a comparison to the money out-of-town Unifor members and supporting unions are putting into the city. “There isn’t one hotel in Regina that isn’t occupied. There isn’t one restaurant that is not full.”
We’ve taken both of those preconditions (regarding pensions) off the table.