Corner Brook Royals to sit out this hockey season while civic centre dispute lingers - CBC

Corner Brook Royals team manager Andrew Stagg and president Rick Crane say the civic centre lockout means the team had to drop out of the league, and it’s causing other financial problems. (Colleen Connors/CBC)Social SharingAs labour dispute between the City of Corner Brook and civic centre workers drags on , activities the facility would usually house are halted — including the Corner Brook Royals, a long-standing Senior Hockey Club. 

“We are heart broken, we’re just torn apart,” Corner Brook Royals President Rick Crane told CBC News on Monday.

It has been two weeks since the city locked workers out of the civic centre, after being unable to agree on wages with the union representing the centre’s workers. At the time, the city said it could not risk being left in the position where employees could walk out of the building at a moment’s notice. 

The civic centre was going to be the Royals' home rink and with no ice to skate on, and therefore no sponsors, team manager Andrew Stagg said they had no choice but to drop out of the league. 

“We are all very upset. There is nothing we would love more than to be playing hockey here this winter,” he said.

While the team sits this season out, Stagg said the players will join a dispersal draft in the league for this season.

Crane said the team is facing a financial loss.

“There was flights booked, there was hotels booked. We were ready to go. We were ready to drop the puck. All we needed was a home,” said Crane. “A lot of that cost now we can't get back.”

Other community groups are feeling the impact of the civic centre’s lockout.

In a statement posted on social media, the Saltos Gymnastics Club said they are unable to access its facility while the Corner Brook Civic Centre remains closed.

The statement said despite the doors being shut, expenses like rent, equipment maintenance and paying employees, continue.

“Without access to our gym, we are unable to deliver the programs that sustain our organization,” it reads. “The future of Saltos Gymnastics club is at stake.”

The club called on the city and “relevant parties” to work towards a resolution as soon as possible.

The civic centre also frequently hosts markets for small businesses — some of which are organized by Best Coast Market.

After being unable to secure a new location for its upcoming holiday market, the market organizer put a statement on social media calling on the city to come to an agreement with the workers.

“The uncertainty surrounding our November 28 Holiday Market affects approximately 60 local and provincial small businesses who have been preparing, producing inventory and planning for one of the busiest shopping periods of the year,” reads the statement.

“We are asking the city to do everything reasonably within its power to break this impasse and get people back into this building.”

In a statement posted on social media last Friday, Corner Brook’s city council said its bargaining team is continuing to negotiate a deal with Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 4386, but said they must balance fair compensation with “affordability and long-term fiscal responsibility.”

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 4386 president Craig Gardner says they won't budge until city offers a better deal. (Colleen Connors/CBC)

The city wrote wage increases would eventually result in “increased taxes, higher costs for municipal services, reductions in services, or a combination of these measures.”

“Council cannot agree to compensation demands simply to bring an immediate end to the disruption if those costs cannot be reasonably sustained in future budgets.”

CUPE 4386 local president Craig Gardner told CBC News they won’t accept the wages the city is currently offering.

“They said they're waiting for us to come back to the table and expecting us to bring another proposal and change our stance. And they haven't moved once,” he said.

Gardner said seeing community activities shut down is “heartbreaking,” but said the workers are “in it for the long run.”

“They're not going anywhere. They deserve this deal. It was a fair deal for everyone that we've offered,” he said.

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Abby Cole is a journalist with CBC News in St. John's. She can be reached at abby.cole@cbc.ca.