Volume 137 Issue 49 Friday, February 14, 2020 www.minnedosatribune.

com 90 cents plus tax

INSIDE Heritage Co-op Feels the

this week
Pinch of Fuel Blockage

Salute to
Minor Hockey

Floor Plan for

New Daycare

3
Photo by Darryl Holyk

While some Co-op gas bars “ran out of gas” during the recent fuel blockage, Minnedosa’s Heritage Co-op gas bar
continued to serve its customers, although it has been operating on a lower-than-normal fuel supply.

By KAREN MITCHELL Workers illegally blocked tribution to small commu- out of fuel for short periods sue seems to be somewhat
access to and from the nities where Co-op may of time over the weekend, more secure, the labour is-

L ast Thursday, Febru-

ary 6th, Heritage Co-
op addressed potential
fuel outages throughout its
service area. This issue is a
direct result of the labour
disruption that is occur-
ring at the Co-op Refinery
Wheat Kings Complex (CRC) in Sas-
katchewan, where nearly
Read at TCS 700 refinery workers were
CRC, as well as the Feder-
ated Co-operatives Lim-
ited (FCL) Carseland Ter-
minal and third-party fuel
terminals near Winnipeg
resulting in a huge supply
and demand issue. The
Co-op Refinery Complex
continues to operate nor-
mally with replacement
works, therefore the sup-
be the only fuel sources
available. Heritage Co-
op was also working with
FCL to replenish its fuel
supply sooner than later.
During the potential fuel
outage, Heritage Co-op
introduced daily card pur-
chase restrictions on diesel
(300 litres) and gasoline
(100 litres) for its cardlock
the rural gas bars of Heri-
tage Co-op have been able
to maintain a fuel supply
for customers. “Minnedo-
sa has been running on
very low inventory, and we
have been moving fuel to
the most urgent areas as
needed,” explained Zach-
arias. “FCL Distribution,
along with our local Pe-
sue had not been resolved
as of press time. “We need
to see everyone get back to
the bargaining table in or-
der for a deal to be reached
at the refinery,” said Zar-
charias. “Most of the illegal
blockades have been re-
moved at this time, and we
are doing our best to serve
our members in this diffi-

11
locked out on December
5th after their union (Uni-
for) issued strike notice.
The union has walked
away from the table re-
garding talks on the work-
ers pension contributions.
ply is there. Heritage Co-
op received its fuel from
the CRC and affected Win-
nipeg terminals.
To address the poten-
tial fuel outages, Heritage
Co-op prioritized fuel dis-
customers.
On Tuesday, Febru-
ary 11th, Lorne Zacharias,
General Manager for Heri-
tage Co-op confirmed that,
while the Brandon Heri-
tage Co-op sites did run
troleum people, have been
working hard to restore
inventory levels, and as of
today (Tuesday) we seem
to be making progress.”
He added that while
the immediate supply is-
cult time. We continue to
appreciate the support and
understanding of people
in each of our communi-
ties.”

Happy Valentine’s Day!