Murray Wood: Infrastructure projects are expensive, but important
Any time we try to build something, people start complaining about costs. Murray Wood says people are angry about the ov...
Regina Mayor Michael Fougere urged Unifor and Co-op to keep talking in hopes there will be a resolution to the ongoing labour dispute at the refinery.
“The fact that they met (Monday) is a positive sign. The fact there’s no communication (Tuesday) morning … I think is a positive too,” Fougere said Tuesday on Gormley.
Neither the union nor Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) has issued a comment since Monday’s meeting in Saskatoon.
The meeting between union leaders and the company came after Unifor announced it would be dropping its demand for a promise that defined benefit pensions will never be touched by the company. However, Unifor said it was maintaining its position on pensions.
Co-op responded by saying if Unifor wants bargaining to resume, it would need to take down the fencing it put up around the Regina refinery. That and abide by a court injunction that stated picketers can only hold up those trying to get in for 10 minutes for the purpose of giving information or until that offer is declined.
Despite a $100,000 fine issued for breaking an earlier interim court order and 14 arrests last week, the union has kept the barricade up and Fougere hinted police could soon be doing something about it.
“Chief (Evan) Bray is developing a plan to enforce the court order. I can’t speak to what that looks like nor the timing of that one,” Fougere said.
“What we have is Unifor breaking the law, breaking that injunction and the police service is going to be doing something. I’m not sure when that’s going to be because I do not ask for the operations of the police service. I don’t control it … but there will be something that they’ll be doing.”
Speaking after Tuesday’s board of police commissioners meeting, Bray said: “There’s a lot of background investigative work that is going on right now to really help develop the plan and what our next steps are going to be.”
The chief has found the situation frustrating.
“It is absolutely taxing of resources … If I’m being honest, it’s a distraction from what I think we should be focusing on,” Bray said.
Fougere said ongoing labour strife has raised tension in the city. He’s also concerned about public safety, particularly with emergency access to the refinery.
“There’s one entrance in for emergencies. (The union opening one entrance is) helpful but certainly is not nearly the solution that’s required here,” Fougere said.
“I’m concerned about safety at the worksite. (I’m) very concerned about what happens if there’s an incident that takes place. Enbridge is next door to the refinery. What happens there?”
— With files from 980 CJME’s Adriana Christianson
