Local 594 leaders fear refinery will fire them when dispute ends
REGINA A letter written by Unifor Local 594’s president to Premier Scott Moe alleges that members of the union executive will be terminated once workers return to the Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) — something the company characterizes as posturing.
Refinery spokesperson Brad Delorey denies the union’s claim, calling it “further theatrics from Unifor.”
Kevin Bittman, president of Local 594, included the allegations in his letter after hearing from managers at the CRC.
“The rumours we are hearing from the managers on the inside is that the refinery manager has been talking about (how) they want to fire the union executive,” said Bittman. “The last thing we need to do is come out of a five-month lockout and then have a whole bunch of people losing their jobs and careers.”
Ronni Nordal, union-side labour lawyer, said that if the company were to fire the executive it would be an unfair labour practice.
“It would be taking action against individuals based on their union activity. A legitimate layoff would have nothing to do with the union position held by an individual,” said Nordal in an email.
The letter was another attempt by the union to call on the premier to intervene in the dispute and legislate an end to the lockout.
Bittman’s letter said the possibility of these layoffs would run counter to the recommendations of provincially appointed special mediators Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers. Their report, often referred to as the Ready Report, recommended an “orderly return to work for all locked out employees.”
When ballots were counted 98 per cent of Local 594 members voted in favour of that return to work scenario and other recommendations made by the special mediators.
The CRC, however, rejected the recommendations and came back with a final offer to the union, which was rejected by 89 per cent of voting union members.
The company said it is fully prepared to continue operations indefinitely with replacement workers and mangers staffing the refinery.
That’s part of the reason the union is seeking government intervention, as Bittman said he feels it’s the only way to end the dispute.
Moe and Delorey both say the matter is private and should be discussed and solved only by the parties involved. Bittman said the union has not heard back from the government regarding its request.
In a statement emailed to the Leader-post, Labour Minister Don Morgan said he’s aware of the letter, has been in contact with both sides, and continues to encourage them to work together.
“Legislating workers back to work in a private sector labour dispute would be unprecedented in Saskatchewan. Unifor and Coop must work together to find an agreement,” he added.
As the dispute drags on, managers at the plant have been taken out of their usual roles and tasked to do other jobs. Delorey said a rotation has been established so employees get regular days off. But Bittman said from his conversations with people in the plant, the dispute has been hard on them too.
“I’ve been out there for 23 years so I’ve worked side-by-side with a lot of those people. I was a best man at one guy’s wedding,” said Bittman. “At one point we were a big family.