News Benefits & Pensions Labour Relations
Regina refinery workers give bargainers strike mandate to back contract talks

REGINA (CP) -Hundreds of unionized workers at the Co-op refinery in Regina have voted more than 97 per cent in favour of a strike to back contract demands.

A statement from Unifor Local 594 says the vote’s outcome is in response to the company’s attack on their pension plan.

The statement also says the union’s 800 members who are employed at the refinery complex will keep the plant safe and profitable while its bargaining team contemplates its next steps.

The vote comes after mandatory mediation ended Nov. 12, when Unifor said the company was continuing to demand pension rollbacks and other concessions.

Unifor declared an impasse in contract negotiations in September, which led to the appointment of a mediator.

The workers last contract expired in February, while the company reported in March that 2018 was a record year for earnings of nearly $1.1 billion from close to $10.7 billion in sales.