A labour dispute continues between Unifor Local 594 and the Co-op refinery. (Jessie Anton/980 CJME)

By CJME News

Unifor launches ‘brand-wide boycott’ on Co-op as refinery labour dispute heats up

Dec 15, 2019 | 5:49 PM

As the labour dispute over pensions at Regina’s Co-op refinery heats up, the union that represents roughly 730 of the plant’s workers is announcing a boycott campaign against the company.

“If Co-op wants to hit Regina refinery workers with a lockout and steal our pensions, then it’s time for Canadians to hit Co-op where it hurts,” said Scott Doherty, lead negotiator and executive assistant to the Unifor national president, at a news conference Sunday morning.

“We are launching a brand-wide boycott on all things Co-op — greedy Co-op groceries, greedy Co-op gas, greedy Co-op hardware.”

The union’s boycott campaign will include television and radio ads, billboards, direct mail, a petition and secondary pickets at retail locations across Canada.

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The Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC) called the Unifor campaign “no surprise, but it is disappointing” in a media release Sunday afternoon.

“Over the past week, Unifor has demonstrated that they have no respect for the hard-working truck drivers who haul fuel from our refinery and no respect for Western Canadian farmers who need fuel to dry and haul their grain during a very difficult crop year,” the release said.

The CRC encouraged Unifor to get back to the bargaining table, which the company claims the union hasn’t done since Sept. 26.

In its boycott launch news release Sunday, Unifor said “negotiations hit an impasse when Co-op demanded massive concessions on pensions, despite an explicit commitment during the last round of bargaining to maintain the current pension plan.”