Co-op applying to end the months-long refinery lockout

The Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) is looking to end the lockout that began Dec. 5.

It has applied to the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board to order a final offer vote for the union members.

The company can do so under Section 6.35 of the Saskatchewan Employment Act.

Unifor has not accepted Co-op’s final offer, which was based on an amended version of the special mediator’s final report.

“We are disappointed that the Unifor 594 Bargaining Committee was unwilling to take our final offer to their membership for a vote,” the company said in an emailed statement.

“The vote will be supervised by the Labour Relations Board and will give employees represented by Unifor Local 594 the opportunity to vote on our Best and Final Offer dated March 30, 2020.”

Later Tuesday, the union issued a statement in which it said it was recommending to its members that they reject the Co-op’s offer when the vote is conducted by the labour relations board.

“We stand by the recommendations of Premier Scott Moe’s mediators,” Unifor national president Jerry Dias said in the release. “The mediators’ recommendations were thoughtfully crafted and balanced. They represent the best path forward for both oil and gas workers and the company.”

On March 20, Local 594 members voted to ratify the mediators’ recommendations, but the company said it couldn’t accept those recommendations and came back with another offer.

Mediators Vince Ready and Amanda Rogers recommended starting on Feb. 1, 2022 that employees at the Regina oil refinery contribute eight per cent of annual earnings to their pension plans.

Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) wants to bring it back by one year to Feb. 1, 2021, still at eight per cent. The company also wants to bump up the amount a year later in 2022 to approximately 9.75 per cent; FCL says it will also contribute the same amount to employees’ plans.

Co-op also disagrees with the mediators’ recommendation on the accrual rate for the defined benefit plan.

But Co-op believes it has a plan that the union members would accept and they should get the chance to vote on the deal.

“We are encouraging the Unifor 594 membership to vote in favour of our offer. The offer we have put in front of Unifor 594 is the deal that provides certainty to employees and should end this dispute,” it said in the statement.

Meanwhile, the union also has filed two unfair labour practice applications against the refinery with the labour relations board. Those applications have yet to be heard.