The RPS said the “temporary” road closure is needed to “make the site safe and remove materials (that) could potentially be used to create an illegal barrier.”
Business
Road closure near Co-op Refinery part of police plan to 'make the site safe' – Regina Leader-Post
Unifor national president Jerry Dias believes the only chance Local 594 has of getting a fair deal at the bargaining table is through binding arbitration.
“The simple reality is: Co-op is very comfortable, that they have a government that really has suggested a special mediator but gave him no powers,” said Dias, at a news conference in Victoria Park on Friday afternoon. Shortly after barricades were built around the refinery on Jan. 20 Dias said the playing field was closer to level, as the pickets were affecting the Co-op Refinery Complex’ (CRC) ability to make money.
National Unifor president Jerry Dias speaks to members of the media at a news conference held in Victoria Park in Regina, Saskatchewan on Feb. 7, 2020.
BRANDON HARDER /
Regina Leader-Post
But late Thursday night police closed 9th Avenue N. from Winnipeg Street to McDonald Street and maintained the closure into Friday, allowing Co-op fuel trucks to pass through a police checkpoint as officers checked the drivers’ names.
Two police cruisers were parked at the intersection of Winnipeg Street and 9th Avenue North on Friday morning. Officers restricted both foot and vehicle traffic through the area. However, reporters on scene observed Co-op fuel trucks pass through the blockade after the drivers’ names were checked by police.
“Vehicles not related to the operation of the businesses in the area will not be permitted,” the Regina Police Service (RPS) said in its release.
By late Friday evening, Unifor pickets could be seen delaying fuel trucks attempting turn onto 9th Avenue North from Winnipeg Street.
Pickets walked around in a circle in the middle of 9th Avenue North as each truck approached them. A representative would then approach the driver and explain the union’s position.
Trucks were delayed for varying periods, generally a few minutes. In an exchange witnessed by the Leader-Post, they soon allowed the driver to proceed when he asked.
Lana Payne, Unifor’s secretary-treasurer, said the pickets were fully complying with the December court order limiting delays.
“We decided that the court injunction says we can stop trucks and talk to them up to 10 minutes. That’s our constitutional right to be able to pick it and that’s what we’re doing right here,” said Payne.
But the picket still prompted a small traffic jam as fuel trucks lined up on the off-ramp from Ring Road to Winnipeg Street
Payne faulted police for doing the work of “the boss.”
“Obviously they’re the ones that blocked the gate and this is the only space that we had here to set up our picket line,” she said.
Pickets walking in front of a Co-op fuel truck on 9th Avenue North on Feb. 7, 2020 in Regina.
jpg
The RPS said the “temporary” road closure is needed to “make the site safe and remove materials (that) could potentially be used to create an illegal barrier.”
Police said Friday that pickets would be allowed to walk freely in the area with signage and other informational materials when the area is cleared of structures and debris. Structures such as warming huts, heaters and portable toilets have been a part of the picket line since workers were locked out on Dec. 5.
Criticizing the RPS action, Dias used the words “police state,” contending if the police were following the court’s orders, there was no wording specifying heaters, warming structures and toilets had to be removed from public property.
“It is crystal clear that the police are an arm of the corporation,” Dias charged — an allegation the RPS has consistently denied. “It is a complete coordinated effort to shut down the picket line to ensure that the Co-op refinery can continue the lockout.”
According to police, the action is “part of a plan to restore a safe physical environment” that will “support peaceful, lawful and safe picketing by members of Unifor Canada, Local 594 and their supporters, in accordance with the Dec. 24, 2019 Queen’s Bench Court Order by Justice J. McMurtry.”
It’s a move celebrated by Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) that said the “removal of the illegal barricades” means emergency services and fuel trucks have access to the refinery site.
Fences erected by police, coupled with cruisers, effectively prevented any foot or car traffic from entering the area.
Scott Doherty, lead negotiator and assistant to Unifor’s national president, said no union members were allowed to return to their picket lines after police blocked off part of the road around 11 p.m. Thursday.
Doherty said Co-op security guards took down barricades erected by the union. As a response, all pickets have relocated to Unifor’s central barricade at Gate 7.
“Co-op has full access to the refinery. We’re not entirely sure from RPS if our members try and walk through their barricade to get to the various gates, that we’re legally allowed to be picketing at, that they’re not going to be arrested,” Doherty said Friday morning.
In an emailed statement, Dias said, “Blocking access to picket locations at the bidding of Co-op Refinery is a clear violation of Charter rights.”
Doherty said all of this could have been avoided if the government returned the union’s calls on Thursday, the same day the two sides met in Regina’s Court of Queen’s Bench for a marathon contempt of court hearing. The judge has reserved decision.
In a news release sent Friday, Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Don Morgan reiterated the government’s position to appoint a special mediator, “contingent on the removal of the illegal blockades,” is still on the table.
“This dispute now has the potential to not only affect the Saskatchewan economy, but the safety and security of Saskatchewan families,” Morgan said in the release.
“While Unifor members have the right to take legal job action, they do not have the right to erect illegal blockades. We continue to encourage all parties to respect the law and we continue to expect the Regina Police Services to enforce the law.”
But Unifor has a counter proposal. While its plan included the prospect of an immediate end to the pickets, it also called for the immediate departure of replacement workers and a mediator with the power to issue a binding settlement.
Both points are terms the company has rejected in the past.
CRC spokesman Brad DeLorey said the company will not negotiate while barricades remain in place, even with police opening up access to the refinery.
NDP leader Ryan Meili called on Premier Scott Moe to recall the legislature to bring in legislation that would allow for binding arbitration to take place.
“If the Premier is willing to introduce fair and balanced legislation, New Democrats would work to pass this legislation in one day, said Meili in an emailed statment. “This dispute needs to end.”
— with files from Mark Melnychuk and Arthur White-Crummey
Related
Regina Police Service officers approach a Co-op fuel truck stopped in front of their controlled checkpoint at the intersection of Winnipeg Street and 9th Avenue North on Feb. 7, 2020.
BRANDON HARDER /
Regina Leader-Post
Regina Police Service officer returns identification to a Co-op fuel truck driver stopped in front of their controlled checkpoint at the intersection.
BRANDON HARDER /
Regina Leader-Post
Members of the Regina Police Service completely shut down 9th Avenue N. from Winnipeg Street to McDonald Street in Regina on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020.
TROY FLEECE /
Regina Leader-Post
The road closure started late Thursday night.
TROY FLEECE /
Regina Leader-Post
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on X:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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