Unifor picketers walk the line at Gate 7 of the Fleet Street entrance at Regina's Co-op oil refinery on Jan. 21, 2020. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

By CJME News Staff

After Monday evening arrests, Unifor picketers erect fence at refinery gate

Jan 21, 2020 | 10:09 AM

The labour dispute between Unifor members and the Co-op refinery in Regina continued with another blockade on Tuesday.

A day after Regina Police arrested seven people — among them, Unifor’s national president Jerry Dias — picketers returned, having erected a fence at the refinery’s Gate 7 entrance on Fleet Street.

On Monday evening, the same spot was where police members arrested Dias and six others, towing away a U-Haul truck that was blocking the entrance.

By comparison, the scene was calm on Tuesday.

Scott Doherty, the executive assistant to Unifor’s national president Jerry Dias, said Monday the fence is there for safety. “Quite a few confrontations (Monday), so we set up the fence to protect our members and show that, like we said last night, this place is locked down.”

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Doherty said as of Monday at 7:30 a.m., he had yet to speak with Regina police officers on the scene.

Police were on location with the lights on their cruisers flashing without incident.

Unifor members left a small entrance in the metal-clad gate for people to enter and exit.

Inside the fence, picketers were walking the line, listening to music and waving their flags.

Doherty said he didn’t know why police members arrested the picketers on Monday. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. We were peacefully demonstrating and people were arrested for it.”

In a media release, the police service said, “the law upholds the rights of the union to lawful protest; likewise, the law recognizes the company’s right to conduct business.

“On Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, police learned that Unifor members had completely blocked the entrances/exits to the Co-op Refinery Complex, not allowing vehicles to enter or exit the property, in spite of a recent court order which sets out the rules of engagement for both sides in the dispute.”

Doherty emphasized, “our members are resolved: We said we were here for ‘one day longer, one day stronger,’ and we’re going to stay here.”

The union wants the labour dispute resolved peacefully, he said.

More to come.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick