Growers have reported delays at fuelling stations during the Co-op Refinery situation
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A labour dispute between an employer and its employees’ union is affecting Saskatchewan farmers.
Producers have voiced concerns over fuel delays at some cardlock stations amid the situation between Co-op Refinery and Unifor Local 594, which represents about 700 locked-out employees.
The work disruption has been ongoing since Dec. 5, 2019.
The union has set up picket lines at some locations. The picket lines are meant to educate fuel station users, but not to block them from accessing fuel.
Nonetheless, farmers are being held up during one of their busiest times of year.
“If there are any delays in trying to obtain fuel then that can quickly translate into delays during spring seeding, and lineups are not good this time of year,” Todd Lewis, president of Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, told Farms.com. “We’ve had producers raise concerns about that, so we’ve raised those concerns with both sides.”
If a producer can’t access fuel at his or her preferred station, it could lead to hours of delays during the day, Lewis added.
Co-op Refinery and Unifor are at odds over pensions.
Employees want the choice to stay on a defined-benefit pension plan or switch to a defined contribution plan.
Co-op Refinery hasn’t been willing to negotiate, so taking action at fuel stations is necessary to bring them back to the table, the union says.
“We are in a position where disrupting the flow of fuel to farmers during seeding is the only option we have to get back to work,” the union said in an open letter to farmers on May 13. “We do not want to do that, but our options are limited when the company does not want a deal.”