Judge puts restrictions on pickets in refinery lockout

At least until the full injunction application can be decided, a Regina judge has put restrictions on picketing unionized workers locked out of the Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC).

The order, issued by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Janet Mcmurtry, restrains the members of Unifor Local 594 from “impeding, obstructing or interfering with the ingress or egress to or from the applicant’s (CRC) property, except for the purpose of conveying information and/or soliciting support to a maximum of five minutes.”

The Saskatchewan Trucking Association and independent trucking companies went public last week with concerns about lengthy delays for semi trucks entering the CRC site, forcing a long line of them to idle at the side of the road.

The trucking situation, along with other concerns for what the refinery’s lawyer Eileen Libby called “misconduct,” prompted the CRC to go to court Tuesday to seek an injunction that would put restrictions on the pickets. However, Unifor lawyer Crystal Norbeck said her office needed time to fully prepare. Mcmurtry adjourned the hearing to Monday but in the interim, issued the order putting some limitations in place.

In her one-page order, Mcmurtry notes that while the CRC asserts pickets are going beyond merely conveying information and soliciting support — as they are entitled to do — Unifor hasn’t yet had an opportunity to challenge the allegations, which will be done at the full hearing. However, she accepted that until the full hearing is held, “serious mischief ” — the legal test in an injunction application — could occur if she didn’t limit the pickets’ right to communicate with those coming and going from the complex to five minutes.

In her order, Mcmurtry also notes that Unifor filed a copy of its instructions to its member, titled The Right to Picketing — Picketing Guide. “Members are expected to follow those instructions. Failure to follow the instructions may very well influence the result of the application to restrict picketing, scheduled for December 23,” wrote Mcmurtry. The judge noted that while the company claims individual pickets “have intimidated and assaulted persons attempting to cross the picket line,” it’s for police to enforce criminal breaches of the law. “Therefore an interim order is not necessary to avert serious mischief,” she added.

Scott Doherty, executive assistant to Unifor’s national president, told reporters Tuesday the proposed injunction is sweeping and the union intends to fight it.

The lockout began on Dec. 5. With files from Heather Polischuk bpacholik@postmedia.com