Work camp signals Co-op refinery’s preparations for strike

The Co-op refinery in Regina has started preparing for a labour disruption.

The refinery and Unifor Local 594 are in negotiations on a new contract and have a third session scheduled with a conciliator for Nov. 7.

But the company started building a work camp on site on Tuesday in case negotiations don’t result in a new deal. Trailers that will house temporary contract workers as well as management were moved onto the refinery site in north Regina.

“Constructing a camp is not something that we want to do, but it’s something that we have to do,” Brad DeLorey, the director of communications and public affairs for the refinery, said Tuesday.

“The camp is important to us in the event of business continuity — and really this comes down to protecting the refinery and our people, the community around us and the Western Canadian fuel supply.”

The union declared an impasses in negotiations on Sept. 26, which triggered the conciliation process.

DeLorey said the camp “is part of our business continuity planning,” and the tactic has been used before. During contract negotiations in 2017, the refinery built a work camp — but it wasn’t used because the sides hammered out a contract.

If a deal can’t be worked out this time, contract workers will join members of the refinery’s management team in the trailers so that they don’t have to cross picket lines.

In a media release, the company said those workers will keep the refinery running safely 24 hours a day seven days a week for as long as needed.

The company’s goal, DeLorey stressed, is to avoid the need for the trailers.

“At the end of the day, we are still very committed to the bargaining process,” he said, “and ultimately our goal is to reach a fair deal with our union.”

Scott Doherty, executive assistant to the Unifor national president, said he’s disappointed Co-op has started contingency planning but he also said he’s not overly surprised the camp is going up, that it’s a normal thing for an employer to do.

“Hopefully they’re not intending to have scabs doing our jobs,” said Doherty. “Obviously we want the refinery to stay safe during any type of labour dispute but we certainly have no intentions of letting them run the refinery with scabs. The managers and scabs obviously don’t know how to run the refinery the same way that our members do, so we would hope that all they’re trying to do is ensure that the refinery is safe during any type of labour dispute.”

Last time the two sides were at the table, Doherty said the workers were hours away from being locked out when a deal was finally reached.

Doherty said the union doesn’t want to see any kind of labour dispute, and he trusts in the bargaining process to find a resolution.