{"id":3442,"date":"2020-02-03T19:51:53","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T00:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/?p=3442"},"modified":"2020-02-16T19:59:28","modified_gmt":"2020-02-17T00:59:28","slug":"defend-workers-pensions-block-union-busting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/defend-workers-pensions-block-union-busting\/","title":{"rendered":"Defend workers\u2019 pensions! Block union busting!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Support locked out Co-op refinery workers!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The escalating struggle by 800 locked out workers, members of Unifor Local 594, at the Federated Co-op Limited (FCL) refinery in Regina has the full solidarity of the Communist Party of Canada. All working people in the country have an interest in defeating this effort by a profitable corporation to bust the union and gut the pension plan that workers have relied on for 4 decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

FCL is a highly profitable\ncorporation that makes $3 million each day at its Regina refinery \u2013 75% of its\ntotal revenue. The union has calculated that FCL has made nearly $3 billion\nsince 2016, and the corporation\u2019s own financial report indicates it had profits\nof over $1 billion in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this enormous financial\nstability, FCL went to the negotiating table demanding that the existing\ndefined benefit (DB) pension be replaced by a defined contribution (DC)\nversion. Such a change would place the pension \u2013 the workers\u2019 deferred wages \u2013\ncompletely at the mercy of the stock market and would fail to provide a\npredictable retirement income. When the union rejected this demand, FCL\nreturned with an offer that was a gutted shell of the DB pension the workers\nhave had since 1979.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union members responded with a 97%\nstrike vote on December 3, and the corporation locked them out two days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If locking out workers were not\nshameful enough, FCL quickly intensified the fight by purchasing billboard\nadvertising that dishonestly describes the dispute as a strike by a union\ndemanding huge pay increases. Further, the corporation has resorted to scab\nlabour \u2013 brought in by buses and helicopters \u2013 in order to maintain its\noperations. The union estimates that the refinery is still making close to $3\nmillion per day during the lockout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent meeting between\nUnifor and FCL ended with no progress, and the union has stated that the fight\nwill be a long one. Clearly, this is a struggle against union busting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the corporation\u2019s\ntactics, Unifor has issued a call for a boycott of all Co-op brands across Western\nCanada. This includes gas bars and convenience stores, food stores, propane\nplants, home and agro centres, and feed plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union also completely shut down\nthe refinery on January 20, after encircling the 540-care facility with picketers\nand reinforcements from across the country. This action was met with police\nviolence, with more than a dozen peaceful picketers being arrested and pickets\nforcefully dismantled by police tow trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggle by Unifor Local 594\nhas attracted solidarity from many sectors of the labour movement in Canada.\nRepresentatives of several trade union bodies have helped to bolster the picket\nlines and issued statements of support \u2013 these include the Canadian Labour\nCongress, Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, Canadian Union of Public\nEmployees, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Steelworkers, United Nurses of\nAlberta, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Ontario Public Service\nEmployees Union and many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Communist Party welcomes and\nencourages this active labour support, as an example of how to unify and strengthen\nthe trade union movement on a class struggle basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this critical fight to defend\nworkers\u2019 pensions and living standards, as well union rights to organize,\nbargain collectively and picket, the Communist Party reiterates its\nlongstanding demand for legislation to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n