Premier Scott Moe (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

By CKOM News Staff

Premier offers special mediator if Unifor removes fences

Feb 3, 2020 | 3:17 PM

The union representing locked-out employees at the Co-op Refinery Complex has been asking Premier Scott Moe to get involved in settling the dispute.

On Monday, the premier said he would get involved — but perhaps not in the way the union had expected.

At the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) meeting in Regina, Moe said he will appoint a special mediator to help try to end the lockout but only if the union immediately takes down the barricades it has erected at the refinery.

If the union doesn’t remove the fencing, Moe said he expects Regina police to step in.

“It’s my expectation that the Regina Police Service will uphold the law, they will enforce the court order and they will remove the barricades at the refinery,” Moe told SUMA delegates.

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Since Unifor erected the fences around the refinery, representatives of the City of Regina, the Regina Police Service and Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) have said the barricades are illegal. On Monday, Moe added his voice to that, calling the fence “an illegal blockade.”

However, the fences remained in place until Friday, when the union removed them as part of the parties’ return to the bargaining table.

After talks broke down Friday night, the union put the barricades back up.

The Regina police were active at the refinery on Jan. 20, arresting 14 people — including Unifor national president Jerry Dias. But that was the only action the police have taken since the lockout began Dec. 5, leading to complaints from many Regina residents.

Moe said he wouldn’t comment on the work done to date by the police. But he added he expects all police forces in the province to enforce the law and any court orders as required.

The premier said special mediators have been appointed only six times in the past 15 years in the province, so he noted that Monday’s offer “is no small step.”

A special mediator has some powers a normal mediator doesn’t have. The sides in the refinery dispute worked with a mediator before talks fell apart in November, so one with expanded powers could help the situation.

“The special mediator can work outside of the bargaining table process, if you will, bring the parties back to the table and start to work them to a collective decision,” Moe told reporters.

“I have always said and continue to say the very best decisions are always made at the bargaining table. We continue to believe that. That’s why we have extended this offer today, that if all the laws are being adhered to, the court orders are being adhered to, we’ll appoint the special mediator immediately to see if we can move this process along.”

Last week, union officials asked Moe to get involved by introducing binding arbitration legislation. The government has resisted doing so — and Monday’s comments by Moe suggest the premier still doesn’t want the matter to go to arbitration.

He and government officials have said they want the sides to negotiate an agreement. On Monday, Moe noted that a special mediator can’t make an order that’s binding on the parties.

The premier said the offer of a special mediator isn’t time sensitive, but he hopes the parties will consider it as a method to get talks back on track.

“All parties, I’m certain, want to come to an agreement so that everyone can go back to work, not only the refinery employees but the management to get everyone back to some semblance of normality with an agreement that is good for all parties,” Moe said.