Unifor remains defiant as court imposes $100K fine for contempt
Union appeals injunction ruling while workers keep blockade at Regina refinery
REGINA The Unifor local representing locked-out refinery workers faces a $100,000 fine for contempt of court, after a judge found its actions over five days in December breached an order restricting picketing around the Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC).
But Unifor remained defiant. As members maintained a blockade the company calls illegal, the union filed an appeal of an injunction order and vowed to continue the fight.
CRC spokesman Brad Delorey would not comment on the company’s next steps, except to say it is considering “all legal options.”
Law professors warn the dispute could bring more contempt rulings, daily fines and additional arrests.
Justice Timothy Keene issued his ruling on Wednesday, after CRC accused Unifor Local 594 of breaching Justice Janet Mcmurtry’s Dec. 17 interim injunction that limited picketing activities to providing information for up to five minutes.
“The Union intentionally disobeyed the order on numerous occasions by obstructing entrance in and out of facilities,” Keene found. “This obstruction exceeded the five-minute maximum.”
He imposed a fine, plus legal costs, in a bid to “bring home to the respondent the need to follow court orders.”
In a statement, the CRC said the decision “demonstrates that our legal system works and that the rule of law will be upheld.”
But Unifor leaders, speaking at a rally as CRC released those words, showed no sign of standing down.
“This will not be settled in the courts. This will not be settled by police,” said Lana Payne, Unifor national’s secretary-treasurer. “We’re holding the line.”
The union filed an appeal of Mcmurtry’s second order on the interim injunction, issued Dec. 24, which extended the maximum delay to 10 minutes, or until drivers indicate a desire to proceed.
Keene’s decision did not include any specific direction to the Regina Police Service (RPS). Neither did either of Mcmurtry’s orders. That’s a major difference from the injunction against a protest camp near the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in 2018. Given that, police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich said Keene’s decision is “not really of concern for us.
“Resolving the labour dispute is not our responsibility,” Popowich said.
“That rests with both parties.” Ken Norman, a professor emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law, said RPS Chief Evan Bray is no doubt feeling pressure as the dispute escalates.
“It will cause the police chief to lose sleep, as he did a year ago, and for good reason,” said Norman.
He said that police have discretion about how to enforce the law. But that can change if the court orders become more precise, as in the protest camp dispute.
“In the end the teepees had to come down, didn’t they,” he said.
Norman said a contempt ruling is no small matter. It also raises the prospect of CRC heading back to court if Unifor remains defiant.
“It can get very serious in terms of personal daily fines, and indeed daily fines against the union,” he said.
“That can add up to a whole lot of zeros.”
In his view, the existing blockade gives CRC “pretty straightforward” grounds to seek further court sanctions.
“The law is on the side of the Coop here with regards to the limits on the expressive right of the picket,” he said.
“Clearly they can’t blockade a road. They can’t put up a fence ... without consequences in the court. There’s a clear line.”
He said the court has tools to collect its fines from Unifor. If money doesn’t convince the union to end its blockade, he said CRC could take an even more drastic step.
If it goes for criminal contempt, the court could put certain Unifor members in jail.
“That is a possibility, as a last resort,” said Norman. “That’s the consequence of a criminal contempt with its heaviest hand, and a judge won’t quickly want to do that — but that’s where it could end up.”
Keene’s decision is not the first time Unifor has been cited for a contempt of court during a bitter labour dispute. Unifor Local 200 racked up tens of thousands of dollars in fines while blockading Nemak, a Windsor, Ont., plant. The employees soon ended the blockade and reached a negotiated settlement.
Claire Mumme, an associate professor specializing in labour law at the University of Windsor, said there are differences between the two cases. She noted the Nemak dispute had a lower profile and didn’t attract the same support.
“This strike in Saskatchewan has really captured the attention of a lot of people across the country,” she said. “That, I think, makes a big difference in terms of the balance of power.”
Members of roughly a dozen labour groups joined a rally in Regina on Wednesday supporting Unifor. The president of Seafarers’ International Union of Canada pledged $10,000 towards paying the fine.
Besides, Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union and has significant resources to weather a financial storm.
“The fines may have an impact, but I suspect that the union has geared up for this kind of thing,” Mumme said, while carefully avoiding any claim that Unifor came to Regina with an eye to break the law.
She floated the notion that Unifor may see the dispute as a chance to make a broader statement. “Unifor is dealing with a series of different employers. This may be for them a kind of a culmination point, or a stand they’re taking.”