Unjust Transition: Collective action, labour, and the environmen

October 22, 2022 from 4:15pm EDT to 5:45pm EDT

Location: Lincoln Park Room J301

Charles Smith (USask)

Andrew Stevens (URegina)

Emily Leedham (Winnipeg Journalist)

Emily Eaton (URegina)

Doug Nesbitt (Queen’s)

Kevin Skerrett (CUPE)

In December 2019, what became the Cooperative Refinery Complex (CRC) locked out 730 members of Unifor Local 594 amidst record profits in a union-busting drive for further pension concessions, marking a dramatic shift from decades of collaborative relations between refinery workers, their union and the CRC. Several arms of the Saskatchewan state 24 came to the aid of the employer: the courts imposed sweeping anti-picketing injunctions; police repressed demonstrations; the municipal government and provincial environmental regulations accommodated the establishment of a replacement work camp directly next to the facility. Feeding off of general public enmity towards the workers, the CRC exchanged its long-held cooperative principles for practices that align with those of private competitors owned and operated by major oil interests.

This panel explores a number of issues related to the state of the right to strike and picket; the role of government (municipal and provincial) during strikes and lockouts; the prospects for a “just transition” away from Western Canada’s dependence on oil and gas; occupational health and safety and regulations; workers’ voices; the need for labour journalism; the state of pensions in collective bargaining; and the state of co-operates and co-operative values in Canada. Ultimately, this panel uses the lockout as a platform on which to analyze these important themes from a local and national standpoint.