The dispute between Unifor 594 and the Federated Co-operators Limited (FCL) oil refinery in Regina, Saskatchewan has gone on long enough. Blockades and picketing are one thing but setting up a gate to lock truck drivers from entering or exiting the refinery is just plain outrageous. The Unifor and the Refinery workers should just accept the reality of a changing world and agree to the new pension plan that they’ve been offered.
It all started November 1st, 2019 when the FCL no longer wanted to shoulder 100% burden of employee pensions and the workers decided to strike. According to Regina Leader Post (2020) they already agreed to an adjusted pension deal for new employees just three years ago where “instead of paying 21 per cent to fund guaranteed pension payments, the company chips in six per cent. If the employee pays another four, the company will match it, for a total of 10 per cent.” This will go into individual accounts for each employee and can fluctuate with the markets.
Just your typical average strike? Not in the least. Co-op adamantly refused to cave in on this article and soon it was no longer a strike, the Co-op employees found themselves locked out on December 4, 2019. The problem from the FCL’s position is that the future of oil use doesn’t look optimistic, people are living longer, and they are already seeing large deficits in their pension account that they have to make ‘special payments’ in to make up the difference to. (White-Crummey, 2020).
What does the public think? Well the lockout has led to Unifor barricading the refinery preventing truck drivers (unaffiliated with FCL) from entering or exiting to deliver fuel around the prairies…IN DECEMBER!! While everyone’s travelling and trying to spend time with family and friends, gasoline supply is getting limited and family trucker members are unable to work or return home as usual. FCL was forced to helicopter replacement workers in and out. Tensions between truck drivers and Unifor striking members raised and various charges were laid on Unifor members.
Truck drivers were then forced to travel to Alberta or Manitoba for temporary work later in the month of December. All of this because FCL employees, who already receive and average salary of $104,000 per year (White-Crummey, 2020), far above average for residents of the province, must start contributing to their own pensions? No, the public is not very supportive. They’re not happy with the actions of the country’s second largest union against the hundreds of truck drivers whom it had no consideration for. They’re not happy with the union restricting gasoline for our prairie provinces during the biggest holiday season of the year. They’re not happy with the unions show of big power that can abuse the Canadian legal system by technicality of bringing members of Unifor’s other locals to go around the court orders made against Unifor 594 along with the other various offences it made.
We live in an ever-changing, unpredictable world. No rational person could fault FCL for their caution against making long-term promises when it has no assurance of the future of its industry. As it stands, FCL already faces decades of contributing ‘special payments’ to the pension fund which had been underestimated and over-reached. (White-Crummey, 2020). The FCL employees should count their blessings and be thankful for the generous salary and pension plan that they currently have and quit inconveniencing and harassing treatment of the prairie’s residents.
References:
Article & Photo:
White-Crummey, Arthur. (2020, Jan. 20). Unifor vs. Co-op: What is the CRC dispute really about? Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved from: https://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/unifor-vs-co-op-what-is-the-crc-dispute-really-about/
Please Note: There are many articles covering various aspects of the Unifor vs. Co-op situation and it was difficult to find an all-encompassing one. I chose the one above for it’s facts about the underlying reason for the strike/lockout. My husband is one of the truck drivers for Co-op so I have some first-hand information that I included without reference to any other article because finding articles to reference all the various events would be very lengthy and tedious.
Melissa Millin 