Tentative deal reached at refinery, labour disruption appears to be avoided

It appears a labour disruption at the Co-op refinery has been averted.

One day after telling its members to prepare for a lockout on Sunday, the union representing workers said late Friday afternoon that a tentative deal was reached with the company.

Another internal email was obtained by 980 CJME from the Unifor 594 bargaining committee to members.

“We are writing this afternoon to inform you that after lengthy discussions with the Company, and the assistance of the National, that we were able to reach a tentative deal that we will be presenting to the membership for ratification,” the email outlined.

On Thursday, members were told to clear out their personal belongings from the refinery in preparation to be locked out as early as Sunday. A 14-day cooling off period had ended March 31 at 12 a.m., meaning 48-hour strike or lockout notice could have been issued by either side.

The union posted a message on Facebook Thursday evening to say the bargaining team was headed back to the table with the company Friday morning at 10 a.m. Neither side publicly commented Friday on those talks.

No details of the tentative deal were provided in the email, but members were told another email would be sent with that information.

“While this deal is not the deal we wanted, it will be accompanied with a recommendation,” read the note.

A ratification meeting will be held Monday night, which the email described was “at the insistence of the Company”.