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The opposing sides in the Regina Co-op strike still haven’t resolved their differences

After more than 50 days into the strike at the Regina Co-op Refinery Complex, both sides still haven’t arrived at an agreement to end the lengthy job action. Unifor has continued to block traffic leaving and departing from the refinery.

After more than 50 days into the strike at the Regina Co-op Refinery Complex, both sides still haven’t arrived at an agreement to end the lengthy job action. Unifor has continued to block traffic leaving and departing from the refinery. Unifor’s national president, Jerry Dias, said the union is willing to discuss the issue over reduced pensions. However, Co-op won’t negotiate with Unifor until the blockades at the refinery are removed. Fourteen picketers including Dias were arrested by the Regina Police Service on Monday, January 20 as the strike lingered towards January’s end.

The strike in Regina has created a tense and nearly impassible partition between labour and management since the lockout at the refinery began on December 5. Co-op management have said they’d been acting in good faith by initiating an 11.75 per cent raise over four years. Aside from performance bonuses, Co-op management also revealed they were planning to offer a selection of pensions to their employees. More importantly, Federated Co-operatives Limited wanted the unionized employees at the refinery to start contributing to their pensions.

The FCL declared they have distributed $192 million, or almost $60,000 per union employee, per year in installments between 2016-2019 towards their pension plans. But as the FCL said, “These are millions of dollars that could have been shared with our Co-op,” inferring that management would’ve favoured to place larger investments into their facilities and operations. Additionally, Co-op also hoped to increase job creation, give back more to individual members in cash and equity and enlarge their support to communities through donations.

Co-op Members for Fairness, a group based in Saskatoon, wanted the Saskatoon Co-op to intervene in the lockout at the Regina Co-op Refinery Complex. In a letter sent to the Saskatoon Co-operative Association Board of Directors on Friday, January 10 CM4F conveyed their complete support for the labourers at the locked-out refinery. This group also petitioned the Co-op Board to start applying their authority to solve the lockout, by instructing the Co-op Refinery management to revive the bargaining process with the workers represented by Unifor Local 594.

Jason Hicks, an envoy for CM4F and a steamfitter based in Saskatoon explained why his group is championing the strikers in Regina. “I have always been a strong supporter of the Co-op ideal. But it looks to me like there’s a bit of a trend here, starting with the strike in Moose Jaw,” he illuminated, referring to the job action in the city last fall. Although the refinery is making close to $3 million per day, the labourers at the refinery and other Co-op employees have been obliged to defend their rights in recent times, according to Hicks. “Every time they are contributing to their pensions, management is scaling down their own commitments,” Hicks stated.