Stand with the workers and boycott Co-op

If you are wondering why you should side with the locked-out union members at the Co-op Refinery Complex and also boycott Co-op entirely, here’s a list of reasons off the top of my head:

• Strong unions result in strong labour standards for all workers, union or not. Unions have fought for and won us a 40 hour work week, guaranteed time off, worker safety regulations, etc. Weakened unions have resulted in a roll back in a lot of the things previously won for all workers and will only help to further increase wealth inequality. Median incomes used to rise with productivity, but since the decline of union membership, median Canadian incomes have stagnated, barely keeping up with inflation.
• Unions being forced to give up their defined benefit pensions have weakened pension benefits for all of us. When we are drowning in debt thanks to soaring costs of housing, education and food, we cannot afford to contribute to RRSPs (most employers will only match employee contributions). Corporate employers can and should contribute to pensions we can rely on when we become too old to work.
• You don’t have to agree with all of Unifor’s tactics but it cannot be denied that workers are at a great disadvantage when going up against billion-dollar corporations. Unfortunately, some boats need to be rocked to gain the attention of the employer and the public. Either way, these actions wouldn’t be necessary if the workers were not locked out and were given a fair deal.
• The refinery is owned by Federated Co-operatives Limited. The only way employers will start listening to employee demands is when their profits start taking a hit. Support the workers of the refinery and boycott all Co-op companies (Food, Gas, Liquor, Home and Building, Ag, etc.) until they have given the refinery workers a fair deal and have kept their promise to leave their pension plan untouched.

All in all, please consider the big picture and don’t get too caught up in the extreme measures being taken by either side. We are all in this together, no matter which side you think you’re on.