Lockout Ends at Regina Co-Op
Refinery
Vigorous Defence of Co-op Workers' Dignity and Unity
Photo posted to Unifor Local 594's Facebook page following the
settlement, thanking all those who stood with them during the lockout.
Congratulation to the workers of the Co-op
refinery in Regina! After more than six months the lockout has ended.
Throughout this long and difficult struggle the 730 locked-out workers
stood united against a brutal combined assault on their rights by their
employer, Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), the Regina Police
Service and the Saskatchewan government. Workers stood together when
they were thrown onto the streets, and they stood together when they
went back to work after six months of resistance to this brutal assault
and of mobilizing workers in various parts of the country as well as
communities in Saskatchewan to support their just cause. It was clear
that the aim was to break the unity of the workers and in this the
company utterly failed. The Saskatchewan government did not defend the
workers against the attacks of the company and the police, claiming
that these are 'private matters.' Workers'
Forum supports the stand of the workers that a "different
Saskatchewan" is needed in which the voices of the workers are heard
and the rights of workers upheld.
An agreement was reached between the company and
the negotiating committee of Unifor Local 594 and was announced at a
rally at the legislature on June 18 where the workers had been
demonstrating daily since it re-opened on June 15. On June 22 the
workers voted 89 per cent in favour of the proposed settlement and this
brought an end to the lockout which started on December 5, 2019.
Details of the agreement have not been made public.
June 5 marked six months since the workers at the
Co-op Refinery in Regina were locked out by Federated Co-operatives
Limited (FCL), two days after a strike vote and after the company had,
over several months, made extensive preparations to hire and house
scabs who, together with management, have been operating the refinery
for the past six months.
Over the course of the lockout and before, the 730
members of Unifor Local 594 made every effort to negotiate a collective
agreement, including accepting the recommendations of mediators Vince
Ready and Amanda Rogers which included concessions demanded by
FCL. In spite of the workers' acceptance of the mediators'
proposals, the company rejected them and introduced demands for new
concessions plus an unacceptable Return-to-Work protocol according to
which FCL would have the ability to terminate anyone they choose
whenever they want.
Throughout the prolonged battle that the Co-op
workers waged in defence of their rights they had broad support from
Unifor members from across the country, from members of other unions
locally and nationally, from the National Farmers' Union and local
organizations and communities throughout the province and as far west
as British Columbia in the boycott of Co-op retail outlets.
 Addressing the
workers gathered at the legislature on June 18, Unifor Local
594 president Kevin Bittman expressed his disappointment in the actions
of the company and the government against the workers. Speaking of the
courageous fight that the workers waged throughout the lockout, and the
broad support of the labour movement and communities he said that the
workers would continue to fight for changes to rules on collective
bargaining and to create "a different Saskatchewan." The workers have
faced court injunctions which rendered picketing ineffectual, the use
of scabs, police harassment and arrests, the mobilization of all the
police powers of the state against them. Bittman said, "This was about
union busting, it wasn't about collective bargaining.... Right now for
us, Saskatchewan is a pretty disappointing place to live." He
emphasized that the aim of the company, as evidenced by its endless
demands for concessions, was to break the union and that in this they
had completely failed. In the course of the lockout not a single worker
had crossed the picket line and the 730 workers who had been locked out
in December would return to their jobs with their heads held
high.
While unable to negotiate a Return to Work
protocol that protected everyone from discipline, including
terminations, the local was able to negotiate an expedited process to
fight and resolve any retributions by the company against individual
workers. Bittman also made the point that while the agreement signals
the end of the lockout it does not signal the end of the fight of the
Co-op workers and workers throughout Saskatchewan for anti-scab
legislation and other measures that restrict the ability of employers
to act with impunity in violation of workers' rights.
This article was published in
Number 44 - June 25, 2020
Article Link:
Lockout Ends at Regina Co-Op
Refinery: Vigorous Defence of Co-op Workers' Dignity and Unity
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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