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The union representing workers at the Co-op refinery outlined a plan Thursday to end the lockout.
In a media release issued late Thursday — hours after Unifor executive Scott Doherty said he had been arrested for mischief by the Regina Police Service — the union laid out a plan that could have workers back in the plant by Monday.
In the release, Unifor asked the Saskatchewan government “to agree to the appointment of a mediator with the power to implement a binding settlement.”
The union previously asked Premier Scott Moe to introduce binding arbitration legislation, but the premier declined. On Monday, Moe offered to appoint a special mediator, but that individual’s rulings aren’t believed to be binding.
Now, Unifor wants the mediator to have the power to “implement a collective agreement should the parties not reach a negotiated deal in seven days.”
The union also called on the Co-op Refinery Complex to remove all replacement workers from the refinery, a move that would prompt Unifor to immediately remove its picket lines.
The company has been using replacement workers and managers to operate the plant since unionized employees were locked out Dec. 5. The union put up barricades around the refinery on Jan. 20.
“If Co-op truly believes that it is making a fair offer, then it should have no issue negotiating with the assistance of a special mediator with a deadline and the power to resolve this lockout which they initiated,” Unifor national president Jerry Dias said in the union’s media release.
“This is a clear path to end this right here, right now. The question is, does Co-op Refinery really want this to end?”
The parties returned to the bargaining table on Jan. 31, but their talks broke down after just 13 hours.
Barricades at the refinery that had been taken down by the union when bargaining started were back up shortly after the sides walked away from the table.
Asked to comment on Unifor’s plan, CRC director of communications and public affairs Brad DeLorey said: “We strongly believe a deal can be reached at the table but we will not negotiate with Unifor as long as they continue to barricade our facilities.”
The dispute has included court appearances during which Co-op sought injunctions, a contempt of court ruling and a $100,000 fine against the union, barricades of Co-op properties across Western Canada, and 18 arrests on the picket line.
Dias was among those arrested on the picket line on Jan. 20. On Thursday, Unifor posted a video on its Twitter page showing Doherty — Dias’ executive assistant and Unifor’s lead negotiator — entering the Regina police station and subsequently saying he had been charged with mischief.
“I think it’s ridiculous that the lead negotiator and person who has been leading this to try and de-escalate it, that the Regina Police Service would arrest me for mischief when I haven’t done anything wrong other than work on a picket line,” Doherty said in the video.