Solidarity picket protests lockout at Regina's Lehigh Cement

REGINA, April 23, 2014 /CNW/ - Three employees at Lehigh Cement Ltd.'s Regina Cement Terminal, locked out since Jan. 21, are about to get a helping hand from Saskatchewan's largest labour organization.

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) are teaming up for a solidarity picket, to take place Thursday April 24 at the company's facility on Victoria Plains, Fleet Street North, at 10AM.

"This is a real David and Goliath story," commented IBB International Vice-President Joseph Maloney. "We have three people standing up to the might of an international conglomerate which refuses to negotiate fairly."

The three employees, represented by Boilermakers local D359, package and distribute powdered cement shipped from a company facility in Edmonton.

The main issue in the dispute seems to be a company demand that employees work Sunday without overtime or bonuses. A management negotiator has agreed to terms three times but later reneged on the agreement in every case and came back to the table with more demands for concessions by the employees.

"It's a common practice in American negotiations," says Maloney. "You get what you think is an agreement and the company comes back with new demands. They're constantly moving the goal posts."

The IBB has filed charges of unfair labour practices against the company with the Saskatchewan Labour  Relations Board. But the Board says it is unable to hold a hearing until June, the first date at which the management negotiator says he is available.

"Given that the same negotiator was constantly pressuring our representatives for immediate meetings before the company unilaterally left the table and declared their lockout, I find it difficult to believe he is now not available until late June," said Maloney. "The Labour Board needs to use its authority to force this company to negotiate in good faith."

The union is also running print and online advertising to highlight the stand of the employees against the unfair and illegal management tactics.

Lehigh is a subsidiary of the giant Heidelberg Cement Group, based in Germany.

SOURCE: International Brotherhood of Boilermakers

Brian Frei, Lehigh Employee, [phone]; Rob Lauzon, IBB Assistant Director, Industrial Sector Operations, [phone]; Joseph Maloney, IBB International Vice-President, [phone]