CALGARY — A day after the Canadian Auto Workers, Local 4050 served strike notice on Cascade Carriers L.P. in Calgary and Sherwood Park, Alta., the company has announced it will lock owner-operators out of its facilities.

The 52 drivers at Cascade Carriers, all of them owner-operators, voted 92% in favour of strike action, seeking a first collective agreement which provides what they describe as “proper working conditions, rights issues, a stable income and increased remuneration for the drivers at Cascade."

In a release, CAW National Representative Todd Romanow said, "The drivers helped make Cascade the success it is today. A fair contract will build on that success and help alleviate some of the economic woes that the owner operators are feeling, especially when it comes to fuel costs which eat away at profitability, as well as the company unilaterally reducing the rates that the owner operators are paid to haul the products."

A retaliatory notice of lock-out, signed by Kevin James, on behalf of Cascade, cites section 87.2(2) of the Canada Labour Code as justification for a lock-out affecting the owner-operators in the bargaining unit. The lock-out will apply at the company’s facilities at 2700 Broadmoor Blvd. in Sherwood Park, Alta., and 6111 Ogdendale Road SE in Calgary.

Cascade Carriers L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Mullen-Group, specializes in transportation services for the construction, building, and oil and gas industries in Western Canada with a bulk transportation service utilizing specialized trailers. It operates one of the largest fleets of pneumatic dry bulk trailers in Canada.

The Mullen-Group employs approximately 4,300 owner operators, employees and subcontractors throughout Western Canada.