HUMBOLDT — The conflict between the Co-op Refinery Complex in Regina and its workers has come to Humboldt.
Members of the union that represents the workers, Unifor 594, picketed the Humboldt Co-op’s C-Store and Cardlock on March 13.
“We're here,” said Ryan Dzioba, who works at pumping and blending at the refinery, “just to get our information out to the public and the local co-op members here, to let people know why we're out here and why we’re on the picket line.”
No customers were blocked from getting fuel.
Around 800 workers have been locked out from the refinery since Dec. 5.
Dzioba said the union came to the table asking for the status quo plus an increase that’s calculated from other energy companies.
“In 2019, we have decided to agree to this substantial wage increase,” the refinery said on its website.
The main sticking point has been the pension plan.
Right now, the workers have a defined benefit plan. The refinery wants to change that to a defined contribution plan. The union said in the last round of negotiations, the refinery promised to retain the current plan in the future.
“Why would we accept concessions when [they’ve] made the most money [they’ve] ever made in history?” Dzioba said. He added later the changes could affect 40 per cent of the value of his pension.
Cameron Zimmer, FCL’s communications manager, said there’s a reason that only two per cent of working Canadians have a plan like the current one at the refinery
“Those types of pension plans are just not sustainable,” he said. “We’re simply asking employees to start contributing to their own pension like most Canadians already do.”
The refinery is offering a wage increase of 11.75 per cent over four years.
“With [refinery] workers earning about $104,000 per year on average, this translates to an average wage increase of more than $12,000 over the life of the contract,” the refinery said.
Dzioba said that’s not going to make up for the other concessions the refinery would like to see.
The refinery worker said he was also upset about the tone the refinery was taking with the union. The refinery has said in media releases that Unifor’s efforts to blockade certain sites doesn’t line up with the values of Western Canadians. Unifor’s headquarters is in Toronto.
“They say that I don't have western values because I belong to Unifor. Well, I'm a co-op member. I'm from the west,” he said.
“That's what I want people to understand, is that we're just people. We work, we put our money in the community.”
