by Emily Leedham On Wednesday February 5, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. CEO Scott Banda gave a shout out to United We Roll, the group responsible for last year’s well-publicized but small convoy to Ottawa claiming to defend oil and gas workers. “…I kind of noticed that United We Roll was here as well,” said Banda. “Thank Continue readingStrange new allies for FCL CEO Scott Banda
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by Emily Leedham “I will always stand with Saskatchewan and the great people that reside across this great province.” Evidently, this statement from Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe doesn’t include 750 oil refinery workers who have been locked out for nearly two months by Federated Co-operatives Ltd. for trying to save their pension and savings plans. Continue readingUnited We Rollback Pensions: Refinery lockout exposes right-wing hypocrisy
by Emily Leedham “Cops are towing vehicles, threatening arrests, FYI. Gate 7.” my friend Geoff* texts me. “Oh shit,” I texted back, getting up from the couch to find my ski pants. I was staying with friends in Regina, Saskatchewan to cover the Co-op Refinery lockout where around 750 refinery workers – members of Unifor Continue readingDance Parties, Personal Growth, and Police: Three Days with Locked Out Regina Oil Workers
by Bob BarnetsonFirst published January 23 at Labour & Employment in Alberta There were a bunch of trade unionists leafleting drivers entering the Co-op Gas Bar on St Albert Trail in Edmonton this morning. We were asking drivers to get their gas somewhere else to apply consumer pressure to the Co-op Refinery in Regina. The Continue readingSo I almost died on a picket line…
Editor’s Introduction The Saskatoon Co-op strike has been on since November 1 with strikers fighting against an increasingly ugly employer that wants a two-tier contract that would sell out all future hires. Recently, the case for backing the strikers was made by Andrew Stevens and Charles Smith. A new opinion piece with a different view Continue readingSaskatoon Co-op Strike: Reply to Pohler
By Emily Leedham Host of Rank and File Radio – Prairies Edition On February 8, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix wrote a feature on Keesan Corey, a 19-year old business student and strikebreaker at the Saskatoon Coop. Hundreds of UFCW Local 1400 members have been on strike at the Saskatoon Coop for over 3 months since November Continue readingThe scab, his mom, and the soul of the Coop
By Paul Dechene Sean Tucker has a lot to say about Regina’s explodey refinery. It’s been called “The People’s Refinery”: a made-in-Saskatchewan facility, co-operatively owned response to the international Goliaths of the oil industry. Its proper name is the Co-op Refinery Complex.¹ But, you may know it as that massive industrial plant in the city’s Continue readingIt’s Time To Talk: Reflections on the Co-op refinery explosions in Saskatchewan