Locked-out PetroCan workers call for boycott (Canada)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/01/25/qc-petrocanada0125.html

Last Updated: Friday, January 25, 2008 | 2:59 PM ET
CBC News

Employees locked out at Petro-Canada refinery in Montreal are calling on motorists to boycott the company's gas stations.

During a protest Friday morning near the plant on Sherbrooke St. E., workers asked that drivers avoid buying gas at Petro-Canada stations to show solidarity with the refinery's 260 locked-out employees.

"We ask the public for the time we are on lockout, your gas at Esso, Shell, Ultramar, but not Petro-Canada," said Daniel Cloutier, a spokesman for the employees' union.

Workers were in the midst of contract negotiations when the company locked them out of the refinery last November. Their contract expired in February 2007.

Petro-Canada justified the lockout by arguing the refinery's safety was compromised because of the constant threat of strike action by workers.

But employees said the refinery was made more vulnerable by the lockout because managers are being forced to work overtime to keep operations running smoothly.

FULL story at link.