Members,
On Aug 9th,2023 , your President Mike Day, along with Paul Chevrier (5917 President), Patrick Veinot (staff), Darrin Kruger (Area coordinator staff) and Patrick Rodigues (staff) met with Minister Morgan and Carr from the Saskatchewan Government, members of Crown investment Corp and other officials from Crown Corporations. We focused on the current layoffs at Evraz and the use of local steel in Provincial procurement projects. Below is a follow up letter to that meeting.
Hon. Don Morgan, K.C.
Minister of Crown Investments Corporation
Legislative Buildings
Regina, Sask S4S 0B3
Hon. Lori Carr
Minister of SaskBuilds and Procurement
Legislative Buildings
Regina, Sask S4S 0B3
Dear Ministers:
Thank you for meeting with the United Steelworkers (USW) representatives on August 9, 2023. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss how we can work with the provincial government and Crown Corporations to develop procurement policies that better support Saskatchewan workers and businesses. In particular, our focus was our members in Local Unions 5890 and 5917 who are currently laid off from their jobs at Evraz Regina steel plant.
We welcomed your interest in ways to not only expand direct procurement opportunities for steel produced in Regina, but also in developing improved procurement policies and promoting our products globally. Our members will also appreciate your support in trade complaints to address the influx of cheap, lower quality steel from international sources.
To address specific concerns, our team, in collaboration with Evraz management, will work towards meeting Sask Water and Sask Energy requirements for pipe and other products being considered by Crown Corporations. We also understand that developing a new procurement policy that can navigate internal and international trade laws requires a deft hand and determined focus. As you shared, Buy USA policies present a huge challenge. However, this can be an opportunity to examine and build similar policies that prioritize Saskatchewan workers and businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed our collective reliance on “just in time” supply chains and essential goods produced overseas. Establishing a strong made-in-Saskatchewan procurement policy will help mitigate that, and better secure and promote Saskatchewan as a modern, manufacturing province.
While we acknowledge the ongoing sale of Evraz’s North American operations, we remain confident in the long-term prospects of our facilities. Our longstanding labour-management relationship, which predates the current ownership, assures us of our ability to address any challenges alongside local and regional management. We are committed to working closely with them and your offices to create impactful marketing materials that can promote our steel globally through the Government’s international trade offices.
We plan to share the details of our discussions and our shared confidence in the abilities of Saskatchewan’s workforce with our members. We believe there is a shared confidence in Saskatchewan workers to not only manufacture high quality steel and other goods, but also offer the people of Saskatchewan value for their investment. I look forward to working with you and our members in Saskatchewan to follow up on these issues.
Sincerely,
Scott Lunny
Director
cc: Sean Wilson, Chief of Staff for Minister Lori Carr
Kyle Toffan, Deputy Minister, Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement
Rupen Pandya, President & CEO, SaskTel
Rhea Brown, Executive VP – Customer Experience and Procurement SaskPower
Doug Matthies, President & CEO, SaskWater
Mark H.J. Guillet, President & CEO, SaskEnergy
Christine Short, VP & CFO, SaskEnergy
Tim Highmoor, VP, Crown Investment Corporation, Government of Saskatchewan
Erin Connelly, Director, Strategy & Planning, CIC
Shara McCormick, VP HR & Corporate Services, Sasktel
Mike Day, President USW Local 5890
Paul Chevrier, President, USW Local 5917
Darrin Kreuger, Area Co-ordinator
Patrick Veinot, Staff Representative
Patrick Rodrigues, Staff Representative
Jessie Uppal, Staff Representative