Unifor posts video ‘outing’ replacement workers at refinery

Unifor has revealed how it would be escalating the fight against the Co-op refinery: Posting a video outing the “scabs.”

The union posted the nearly two-minute-long video to Twitter on Thursday afternoon saying, “There is never an excuse to cross a picket line and steal from another worker’s family.”

The video starts with a screen saying “meet the Co-op scabs,” and then cycles through videos of people walking into the refinery, photos purportedly of those people who appear to be taken from social media, and their full names.

Scott Doherty, executive assistant to Unifor’s national president, spoke to 980 CJME in December after a tweet which warned of such of video being made in Regina.

He defended the practice.

“There’s nothing threatening about that,” he said. “That’s constitutionally allowed and protected that we’re allowed to name and out people that are scabs and we’re going to continue to do that.”

Doherty said it’s part of the union’s rights.

“I don’t think that scabs have any place in our society,” he said. “I think governments should change the laws entirely. There’s nothing threatening about the fact that we’re naming people and putting their faces out there when they decide that they want to take other people’s paycheques to do that work.”

Doherty said the videos let the public understand that the replacement workers feel it’s more important for them to go to work than for the people on the picket lines to go to work.

The union did the same thing in Newfoundland in 2018 and garnered quite a bit of criticism from the public, some comparing it to doxxing — a practice where someone’s private information is posted online.

Doherty said he entirely disagrees that the videos are doxxing. He said the union has the right to show the workers’ faces and name them.

“I don’t know how that can be threatening when something is constitutionally protected,” said Doherty.

As of late Thursday afternoon, the video had about 6,500 views on Unifor’s Twitter account. Many of the replies were supportive of Unifor, but many others were negative.

The Co-op refinery sent out a statement about the video, calling it unacceptable and indecent.

The company also said it will ensure the safety and well-being of the people featured in the video.

“These folks are on our site doing a job that we need them to do, and they are committed and want to be here. They do not deserve to be treated this way,” Gil Le Dressay, vice-president of refinery operations, said in the statement.