Written by David Doorey
Unifor, Local 594 has announced a tentative settlement to end the lockout at Co-op Refinery in Saskatchewan that began December 5 2019. The lockout has been bitter, with controversial court decisions, bomb threats against strikers, and a government supported work camp set up to house replacement workers in close quarters during the entire COVID19 crisis. See commentary here by Ronni Nordal, Q.C. of Regina here, here, and here.
We’ll have more on this story later. Presumably the next step is for the proposal to go to the membership for a vote. I have no knowledge of the mood of the membership and whether the agreement will be accepted. I also have no information on the terms of the settlement. So stayed tuned.
In the following clip, Unifor 594 President explains that: “Saskatchewan’s model is broken. … This was union busting at its finest. We had record profits the last two years before we got kicked out go the workplace and they just took and took and took.”
LIVE: Unifor holds news conference at Sask. legislature #sask #skpoli https://t.co/npxe1e9v84
— CBC Saskatchewan (@CBCSask) June 18, 2020