Union, company dispute refinery’s safety during lockout

Four days into the lockout at Regina’s Co-op Refinery Complex, Unifor’s national office claims the refinery is unsafe.

On Monday, the union sent out a photo purported to show a tanker car from the refinery which appears to have had something spill over the top. And Scott Doherty of the national office tweeted out a video of a train crossing a road with one of the tanker cars having had its top left open.

PHOTOS: Co-op Refinery’s unfounded allegations against its unionized workers is a desperate attempt to distract attention away from the unsafe operation of one of Western Canada’s largest refineries.https://t.co/37KGFas4I2 #skpoli #sklab #canlab pic.twitter.com/W60f8UQGp4

— Unifor (@UniforTheUnion) December 9, 2019

The refinery has accused workers on the picket lines of harassing, accosting and verbally assaulting those who try to cross the line, like workers and truck drivers.

Unifor Local 594 president Kevin Bittman said he doesn’t know where that’s coming from.

“All we’ve seen was people singing and dancing and doing what they do. I’m not sure where that came from but we really have not seen hide nor hair of any of the management team at the picket lines, so we’re not sure what they’re referring to,” said Bittman.

The national Unifor office said in a news release the refinery is throwing out these accusations to distract from “the unsafe operation of one of Western Canada’s largest refineries.”

When asked about the photo and video, Bittman said he hadn’t seen them and didn’t know if the problems were coming from inside the plant or not.

The refinery said the tanker car with the top left open wasn’t loaded or unloaded in the facility. But as of late Monday, refinery workers were still looking into the photo which appeared to show a spill on a tanker car.

A refinery spokesperson said the company is doing its due diligence to make sure it’s operating in a very safe environment.

According to Bittman, picketers are slowing down traffic into the refinery, delaying vehicles — including fuel trucks — that are trying to get in and out. And he said they have stopped buses full of replacement workers and won’t let them through.

“We’re definitely going to hold (the buses) up because we don’t think it’s right that somebody should be brought in from Ontario or Alberta to do our work,” said Bittman.

This prompted the refinery to take to the skies, hiring a helicopter to ferry in supplies on Sunday night. The Co-op said it also would be used to take people and in and out of the facility at some point.

In a news release, the refinery said it had to turn to alternate measures because the delays at the picket lines created a “dangerous situation.”

“Helicopters have always been in our business continuity plan as a contingency, but we had hoped that Unifor would remain respectful on the picket line and that they would not be required,” the refinery said in a media release.

In a tweet, the union said its picket lines “are rock-solid,” noting the refinery is “forced to pay top-dollar to fly in scabs by helicopter.”

“I’ll take that as compliment,” said Bittman. “But it looks like our picket lines are working and if I was an owner of the Co-op — I guess I am an owner of the Co-op — I’m wondering why they’re spending so much money on helicopters to bring in goods.”

While vehicles are being delayed by the picket lines, the company said consumers “can rest assured that we are working hard to move fuel safely, from our Refinery to your co-ops and your gas and diesel tanks.”

The refinery has said there are talks scheduled for Wednesday. Bittman said those dates were made months ago and, as of Monday afternoon, the union hadn’t heard anything from the company about sitting down — and he insisted the union won’t sit down until concessions demanded by the company are off the table.

The main sticking point in negotiations is the employees’ pensions.