POLICE TURN UP HEAT
Police officers remove materials that could be used for barriers outside CRC
Unifor officials are livid after Regina police shut down 9th Avenue N. from Winnipeg Street to Mcdonald Street overnight Friday, blocking pickets and allowing trucks unfettered access to the Co-op Refinery Complex, which has locked out workers.
Unifor national president Jerry Dias believes the only chance Local 594 has of getting a fair deal at the bargaining table is through binding arbitration.
“The simple reality is: Co-op is very comfortable, that they have a government that really has suggested a special mediator but gave him no powers,” said Dias, at a news conference in Victoria Park on Friday afternoon. Shortly after barricades were built around the refinery on Jan. 20 Dias said the playing field was closer to level, as the pickets were affecting the Co-op Refinery Complex’s (CRC) ability to make money.
But late Thursday night police closed 9th Avenue North from Winnipeg Street to Mcdonald Street and maintained the closure into Friday morning, allowing Coop fuel trucks to pass through a police checkpoint as officers checked the drivers’ names. By late Friday evening, Unifor pickets could be seen delaying fuel trucks attempting turn onto 9th Avenue North from Winnipeg Street, creating a small traffic jam as fuel trucks lined up on the off-ramp from the Ring Road.
Pickets walked in a circle in the middle of 9th Avenue North as each truck approached, and pickets spoke to truckers, who were eventually allowed to pass
“We decided that the court injunction says we can stop trucks and talk to them up to 10 minutes. That’s our constitutional right to be able to pick it and that’s what we’re doing right here,” said Lana Payne, Unifor’s secretary-treasurer.
“Obviously they’re the ones that blocked the gate and this is the only space that we had here to set up our picket line,” she said.
The RPS said the “temporary” road closure is needed to “make the site safe and remove materials (that) could potentially be used to create an illegal barrier.”
Police said Friday that pickets would be allowed to walk freely in the area with signage and other informational materials when the area is cleared of structures and debris. Structures such as warming huts, heaters and portable toilets have been a part of the picket line since workers were locked out on Dec. 5.
Criticizing the RPS action, Dias used the words “police state,” contending if the police were following the court’s orders, there was no wording specifying heaters, warming structures and toilets had to be removed from public property.
“It is crystal clear that the police are an arm of the corporation,” Dias charged — an allegation the RPS has consistently denied. “It is a complete co-ordinated effort to shut down the picket line to ensure that the Co-op refinery can continue the lockout.”
According to police, the action is “part of a plan to restore a safe physical environment” that will “support peaceful, lawful and safe picketing by members of Unifor Canada, Local 594 and their supporters, in accordance with the Dec. 24, 2019 Queen’s Bench Court Order by Justice J. Mcmurtry.”
“Vehicles not related to the operation of the businesses in the area will not be permitted,” the RPS said in its release.
Fences erected by police, coupled with cruisers, effectively prevented any foot or car traffic from entering the area.
Scott Doherty, lead negotiator and assistant to Unifor’s national president, said Co-op security guards took down barricades erected by the union after police arrived outside the refinery on Thursday night.
Pickets were told they were unable to return to the gates along 9th Avenue North to maintain their picket lines and as of late Friday evening the union members remained outside the perimeter established by police, unable to return to gates at the CRC.
“Blocking access to picket locations at the bidding of Co-op Refinery is a clear violation of Charter rights,” said Dias in an emailed statement.
Doherty said all of this could have been avoided if the government returned the union’s calls on Thursday, the same day the two sides met in Regina’s Court of Queen’s Bench for a marathon contempt of court hearing. The judge has reserved decision.
In a news release sent Friday, Minister of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety Don Morgan reiterated the government’s position to appoint a special mediator, “contingent on the removal of the illegal blockades,” is still on the table.
But Unifor has a counter proposal. While its plan included the prospect of an immediate end to the pickets, it also called for the immediate departure of replacement workers and a mediator with the power to issue a binding settlement.
Both points are terms the company has rejected in the past.
CRC spokesman Brad Delorey said the company will not negotiate while barricades remain in place, even with police opening up access to the refinery.
NDP leader Ryan Meili called on Premier Scott Moe to recall the legislature to bring in legislation that would allow for binding arbitration to take place.
“If the premier is willing to introduce fair and balanced legislation, New Democrats would work to pass this legislation in one day, said Meili in an emailed statement. “This dispute needs to end.”