Bargaining hasn’t begun, but at least the 2 sides are meeting this afternoon (Mon).
Federated Co-operatives Limited CEO Scott Banda is meeting with Unifor’s national president, his assistant, and Unifor Local 5-9-4 president, Kevin Bittman in Saskatoon at 4 o’clock.
Unifor has blocked all trucks from coming in or out of to the Coop Refinery since last Monday and since Saturday at a fuel distribution terminal near Carseland, Alberta.
The lockout began December 5th.
Bittman says last Tuesday the union agreed to remove 2 key union demands that FCL had said needed to go before negotiations could begin, but when that happened, the employer put their own pre-conditions in place.
Then today, Banda said FCL was willing to meet with them, so Bittman hopes this is a good sign that negotiations can begin.
It’s day 53 (Mon) of the lockout.