Co-op Refinery issues lockout notice

REGINA -- The Regina Co-op Refinery has officially issued a lockout notice to Unifor 594, the union representing workers at the refinery.

Earlier this afternoon, Unifor 594 issued 48-hour Strike Notice to us. In the interest of public safety, we've issue a lockout notice effective at 5:30 p.m. today.

— Co-op Refinery (@CoopRefinery) December 3, 2019

The lockout notice means 48-hours after it was issued, workers with Unifor 594 will no longer be allowed to come to work. The notice comes after Unifor workers at Regina's Co-op Refinery officially issued a 48-hour strike notice.

“Nothing is more frustrating than a massively profitable employer insisting their workforce accept concessions and rollbacks,” Unifor National President Jerry Dias said in a release. “Federated Co-operatives Limited is wrong if it thinks Unifor members aren’t going to fight for what’s already theirs.”

Unifor adds it has serious concerns about the refinery using a smaller group of replacement workers to operate the refinery.

“We have years and years of experience and training, and they’re going to replace that years of experience with hours and days of training and it will be dangerous,” Unifor 594 president Kevin Bittman said.

The union says its members voted 97.3 per cent in favour of the strike.