Boycott Co-op and help locked out refinery workers

Dear members,

Members of Unifor Local 594 at the Co-op Refinery in Regina have been locked-out since December 5 over aggressive concessions that would gut their pension plan.

The refinery is not a struggling company desperately seeking cost savings. Our highly skilled members help Co-op rake in $3 million a day in profits. The refinery has posted $2.5 billion in profits during the life of their current collective agreement.

In the months leading up to the lock out, the company built millions of dollars worth of housing on refinery property for scab workers. By day three of the lock out, the refinery was using helicopters to avoid our picket line and sneak in supplies and scabs—potentially against the law.

It’s clear that this Co-op is no different than a greedy corporation with limitless funds to try to break our union.

Co-op Refinery is owned by Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), the organization that is effectively a bulk buyer for co-op retailers that operate gas stations, grocery stores and other business services across Canada, but mostly in the western provinces.

Unifor’ 594’s 800 members are doing an incredible job holding a 24-hour picket line at more than nine entrances to the facility’s 544 acres, but they need your help right now to hit the company where it hurts. These three things will help them win this fight:

1)    BOYCOTT CO-OP GAS, GROCERIES, AND HARDWARE We are asking all Unifor members, Co-op members and Canadian consumers to take their business elsewhere to put pressure on the members of FCL to demand its leadership get concessions off the table and bargain a fair contract.

2)    Visit BoycottCo-op.ca and sign the petition. You will also find campaign materials to download and share in your social media channels and more information is available at Unifor594.com.

3)    Add this frame to your social media profile and support Local 594.

Thank you for supporting locked-out Unifor members in Regina.

In solidarity, Jerry Dias