By ZAcHARY BurK THe McGit Dany (McGict Universiry) MONTREAL (CUP) -- Employees at a Montreal oil refin- ery are calling for a boycott of Petro-Canada in support of the 260 workers who have been locked out since November. After a year of strained negotiations with the Communi- cations, Energy and Paper Workers Union (CEP) regarding contract requirements and safety concerns in the plant, the union voted to authorize a strike in October. Tensions escalated and on Nov. 17, the company announced that management would take control of operations in the re- finery. “Negotiations weren’t progressing, and we felt this would " help push toward a solution,” said Andrew Pelletier, spokes- person for Petro-Canada. But union representatives are furious, saying the company is breaking up the normal company-union negotiation pro- cess. “This as a declaration of war against the union,” said Daniel Cloutier, the national representative for the CEP. Pelletier said the terms of the proposed contract for 2007 to 2010 as “very competitive.” However, Jacques Vanier, president of the local chapter of Singh supporters lobby for Sikh sanctuaries boycott the CEP and an employee in the refinery, said the contract terms were unacceptable to workers. “[The terms proposed by Petro-Canada] would bring rela- tions between the CEP and Petro-Canada back 20 years com- pared to the last negotiations in 2004,” Vanier said. Vanier also argued that Petro-Canada was attacking the normal system of bargaining with the Union by negotiating inconsistent contracts at refineries across Canada. “Québécois workers are getting an unequal bargain com- pared to those working at a similar refinery in Edmonton,” Vanier said. The company, however, maintained that the tense negotia- tions were a result of issues within the local CEP union. “I’m not going to run into details, but the main conflict rests on the Union safety representative issues and on the Union president, [Vanier],” Pelletier said. ; The refinery, located in Montreal East, is currently being run by a staff of about 130 administrators. Locked-out em- ployees have also expressed concern over the danger posed by running such a large plant without enough workers. Cloutier said that workers within the refinery are calling the work conditions “exhausting” and “unreasonable.” “The risk of an accident is constantly rising,” he said. “Many workers are afraid of getting sick. Workers are staying : OVER THE EDGE __ Febrary 13-27, 2008 | ie overnight in the refinery to maintain production.” The CEP union has expressed safety concerns with over- worked night staffers, pointing to a 2005 accident at a BP re- finery in Texas City, in which an explosion caused the deaths of 15 people. But Pelletier said that Petro-Canada has adequate staff, and said that the company’s priorities were “equipment and safety.” “You can’t compare this situation to the one in Texas,” he said. “The refinery is being run by seasoned and experienced operators.” “It might be disappointing to [the union’s] vision to know that the refinery is running smoothly and that we are main- taining efficiency,” Pelletier added. The CEP union is calling for a boycott of Petro-Canada’s ‘gas stations during the lockout to show solidarity with the families of refinery employees. Cloutier expressed frustration and outrage over the situa- tion. “Tt’s ridiculous. They are negotiating over something that is spare change for them, but that affects the entire lives of our workers,” Cloutier said. CFS-BC wave By Gartu McLennan THe Orner Press (Doucias CotLece) VANCOUVER (CUP) -- Sup- porters of illegal immigrant Lai- bar Singh have begun a contro- versial campaign to have Sikh temples be declared places of sanctuary, just like Christian churches. Singh came Canada “It is unconscionable that the gov- to ernment continues to insist on the their However, such efforts were met by hundreds of protesters who denied the officials entry into the place of worship. Now, the temple leaders and the most adamant of Singh’s supporters have started to pres- sure the government to have all Sikh temples declared immune to government interference. De- spite efforts, with fal. 2¢Portation of a paralyzed man Aoi fied docu- from sanctuary, simply to look Safety Mi mentation ee n - and —suf- strong, ister fered a Stock- stroke in 2003, which left him as a quadriplegic. A deportation or- der has since been issued and he has exhausted all of his appeal opportunities. Twice since his deportation order was issued, immigration authorities have attempted to ap- prehend Singh and force him to return to India. Singh has stated that the Indi- an government has wrongly ac- cused him of terrorism and that he will be in mortal peril if he is forced to vacate Canada. He has also claimed that India does not have sufficient medical facilities -to deal with his condition. Singh is currently residing in the Guru Nanak Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C. which also lacks medical facilities. Since taking refuge in the tem- ple, immigration officials have repeatedly tried to arrest him. well Day said that Singh’s de- portation order will remain in effect and that Singh and his backers are in violation of Can- adian laws. The sanctuary movement was supported by a rally at the Guru Nanak Temple, and was backed by similar assemblies in 13 other Canadian cities. “Tt is unconscionable that the government continues to insist on the deportation of a paralyzed man from sanctuary, simply to look strong,” said Denise Na- deau, a member of Simon Fraser University’s interfaith summer institute. Whether or not Singh should be permitted to stay in Canada has sparked an intense debate since he was first ordered de- ported. felt in Quebec Misua WARBANSKi CUP Quesec Bureau CHEF MONTREAL (CUP) -- Turbulence from an email mix-up that sent cam- paign documents from the British Columbia branch of the Canadian Federation of Students across that province, has reached Quebec. On Feb. 4 student union repre- sentatives at Kwantlen University College went public with a CFS-BC document they received accidentally. It detailed the CFS-BC campaign strategy for a spring referendum at Simon Fraser University. SFU, Kwantlen and graduate stu- dents at the University of Victoria are all holding referenda this spring to decide whether to disaffiliate from the country’s largest student lobby group or stay. “Tt’s really about — this doc really bears this out — how focused the CFS is on organizational stability; making sure they keep members, and have people in place at every member lo- cal that are loyal,” said Laura Ander- son, director of external relations for the Kwantlen students’ union. She says it’s the “most complex, methodical document” she’s’ ever seen from the federation at either the regional or national level. “And it’s about membership. It’s not about grants or tuition fees,” said Ander- son. The document outlines campaign details, from obtaining campus maps and printing flyers to finding polling clerks and,’ of particular concern to Anderson, training them. Although the document was specif- ically about the referendum at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, An- derson said, she’s worried the fed- eration has similar plans of attack for Kwantlen. Fresh out of internal legal struggles of their own, Kwantlen’s students’ union hoped to bring in the court- appointed electoral officer who ran their last election. “He’s got his own poll clerks. It’s removed from both the KSA and CFS-BC,” said Anderson. The Student Society of McGill University shares many of Ander- son’s concerns. “Fundamentally the CFS’ only goal is fighting for CFS’ own self-interest rather for students interest,” said Max Silverman, vice-president external of McGill’s students’ union. “Tt looks like a winning strategy and it certainly is a professional strategy. I wish this much effort was put into strategy to fight tuition increases.” McGill holds a tenuous relation- ship with the CFS. Member universi- ties voted to revoke SSMU’s mem- bership in the federation at its fall conference. At the provincial level, the CFS-Quebec remains closed be- cause of a court injunction. “It’s important because we have clear evidence that the extraordin- ary length they’ll go through to stop three Student Unions from leaving the Federation,” said KSA policy analyst Titus Gregory who also runs the blog studentunion.ca. The campaign document lists hun- dreds of potential volunteers who could be brought to B.C. for the cam- paign, including students currently working at unions across the country and members of the NDP. Noah Stewart, an executive at Con- cordia University’s students’ union, was named in the document, but said that he was not aware the document existed until approached by campus media. “T’m definitely here for March,” Stewart said, explaining the B.C. referenda coincide with Concordia’s own elections. “J’m not running for anything, but I won’t be going to BC. Stewart says he contacted the national CFS of- fice to find out more about the docu- ment. “They say its not a CFS doc, it’s CFS-BC,” he said. “Beyond that I don’t know what to say.” According to Gregory, the pos- sibility of flying people in for the referendum raises serious questions about where the funding will come from, be it from some level of CFS, it’s regional bodies or from member student unions. “Tn any case, the students will pay,” Gregory said. Both CFS National Chairperson Amanda Aziz and BC chairperson Shamus Reid refused to speculate on whether or not students would be flown in to campaign for the CFS. “We can’t say one way or the other at this point,” Aziz said in a Feb. 5 interview. Another concern is the autonomy of member student unions. Silverman said a similar referen- dum situation couldn’t happen at McGill because of SSMU’s strict election rules. Non-students are not allowed to campaign on the McGill campus. The CFS, however, requires that any referenda follow its bylaws rather than those of the local union.