‘A no-go:’ Unifor members block access to Yorkton cardlock

As Unifor and Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) meet with a special mediator over their labour dispute, Unifor members are blocking access to the Co-op cardlock and bulk fuel hub in Yorkton.

Grain truck driver Cory Hancock was there Wednesday morning and saw it first-hand.

“I just tried to pull in to get some fuel, and yup, it’s a no-go,” he said.

“I pulled in trying to get fuel. They have all the entrances blocked off with vehicles and pylons. A member of the Co-op is sitting there. There are two RCMP vehicles sitting there, and nobody’s doing nothing.”

The cardlock site sits on the north side of Highway 16.

Scott Doherty, executive assistant to Unifor national president Jerry Dias, said workers are holding secondary pickets to keep the pressure on the company.

“Once again we’ve moved on to a bulk fuel station in Yorkton and hopefully (we’re) going to continue to make sure fuel trucks have a difficult time getting fuel throughout the province of Saskatchewan,” he said.

Throughout the dispute, blockades were erected at Co-op properties like the refinery and fuel terminal  in Carseland, Alta. They were taken down after the company secured a court injunction.

Unifor was previously fined for breaking an interim court order handed down in December. This month, it was fined $250,000 for violating an injunction.

“There is no court injunction in Yorkton. There is no court injunction anywhere other than at the refinery,” Doherty said, adding the union’s plan is to stay in Yorkton for several days.

Doherty said Unifor plans to do secondary pickets across the prairies.

In a statement, FCL said this blockade threatens the mediation process.

“Unifor continues its use of illegal blockades despite the mediation process being contingent on no illegal activity,” read a statement from Heather Ryan, the company’s vice-president of human resources.

“It’s difficult to accept Unifor’s sincerity and commitment to the bargaining process when we see these tactics taking place during the mediation process.”

Hancock said he understands Unifor’s reasons for putting pressure on the company, but he finds their actions extreme.

“I’m just out here trying to make a living for my family and basically they’re not letting me do that,” he said. “If I don’t have fuel, I don’t work.”

Meanwhile, Dias and 13 other Unifor members weren’t in Regina Provincial Court on Wednesday for their first appearances on mischief charges stemming from their arrests on the picket line Jan. 20.

With their lawyer appearing for them, the matter was adjourned to March 30 for disclosure.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Joseph Ho and Adriana Christianson