Co-op spokesperson says company may seek contempt of court order

A spokesperson for Federated Co-operatives Limited says a court injunction that limits picketing in front of the Co-op refinery in Regina is clear and leaves little room for interpretation.

Speaking on Gormley on Monday, communications director Brad DeLorey referred to the excerpt that says Unifor can only stall traffic to give information for “a maximum of 10 minutes, or until the recipient of the information indicates a desire to proceed, whichever comes first.”

Unifor has said it reads the judge’s order differently, that in its view, workers have 10 minutes to say their piece.

DeLorey said the company may seek a contempt of court order.

“I know the legal teams are looking at it ever since the order came down on Dec. 27. We have been gathering evidence and proof of the behaviour that’s been happening on the picket lines,” he said.

The labour dispute, which is over the company’s proposal to change employees’ defined benefit pensions, is dragging into its second month, with accusations of harassment, intimidation and sabotage by workers.

Some of the behaviour alleged includes slashing tires and setting up homemade tire spikes for fuel trucks. These are claims that Unifor unequivocally denies. The union also says several of its members have been hit by vehicles trying to cross the line.

On the show, DeLorey did not accuse the picketers of being responsible, only saying those incidents have been reported to Regina police.

“We take fueling Western Canada very seriously. We certainly would never want to see an injury to a truck driver, to any individual or to anyone who might encounter that vehicle on the road,” he said.

Despite the delays, which truckers say lasted entire days earlier in the dispute, DeLorey said Co-op has managed to produce fuel and deliver it to retailers, without any gas shortages reported.

He said that’s because of the company’s business continuity plan, where managers run the facility with replacement workers. The union has warned that doing so would jeopardize the safety of the refinery.

“Our management team that is running the facility right now have spent the last years really perfecting this plan,” DeLorey said.

“Our management people are the best and the brightest that we have in the industry and they’ve proven that in this last month. They have continued to run this facility very safely, very reliably and we’re in a very good position.”

In DeLorey’s view, there seems to be little indication the two sides will return to bargaining.

The dispute is largely over pensions. The company wants workers to start paying into their defined benefit plans, or switch to Co-op’s defined contribution plan.

DeLorey contends Unifor doesn’t have any interest in mediation and hasn’t bargained since September.

“We are very open to get back to that bargaining table. You cannot reach a deal on a picket line and we need to conduct some meaningful bargaining going forth,” he said.

“You can’t enter bargaining with conditions,” DeLorey added. “They have gone as far to say that they don’t want any changes now and they don’t want any changes ever and we just can’t do that.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of the story, reflecting the fact the company is still considering all of its options.