Regina police clearing up area around Co-op refinery

Co-op fuel trucks were moving along Ninth Avenue North on Friday, but Unifor picketers weren’t.

Regina Police Service officers closed the road between McDonald and Winnipeg streets on Thursday at 11 p.m. On Friday morning, the police were allowing trucks to enter and leave the refinery, but picketers were being told to go to another gate.

Regina Police officers are allowing a line of Co-op fuel trucks into the Refinery through 9th Ave North. But Unifor members trying to access the same area on foot are being told to go to Gate 7 where barricades still remain on Fleet St. pic.twitter.com/0yCflM0cAX

— Adriana Christianson (@AdrianaC_JME) February 7, 2020

Unifor members declined to comment.

In a media release earlier Friday, police said they were “overseeing the process of clearing structures and debris from City of Regina property adjacent to the Co-op Refinery Complex on Ninth Avenue North, between McDonald and Winnipeg streets.”

Scott Doherty, the executive assistant to Unifor national president Jerry Dias, said the police moved into the area late Thursday night to close the stretch of road.

“(Officers) then proceeded to instruct the Co-op security guards to take down the fences that were erected,” Doherty said Friday at about 9 a.m.

“I believe all of the barricades, fences, have been removed from everywhere except for Gate 7 at this point in time. Until this morning, that was all that was happening. They weren’t allowing any vehicles in and out.”

Unifor erected barricades around the refinery on Jan. 20 as part of an escalation of its labour dispute with the Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC). The refinery locked out unionized employees on Dec. 5.

The barricades have kept fuel trucks and other vehicles from getting into or out of the refinery.

Regina police officers speak with people outside of Regina’s Co-op refinery complex on Feb. 7, 2020, as they block traffic onto Ninth Avenue North. (Adriana Christianson/980 CJME)

The police said their actions Friday were “part of a plan to restore a safe physical environment which will support peaceful, lawful and safe picketing by members of Unifor Canada, Local 594 and their supporters.”

The clean-up was aimed to make the area safe for vehicle and pedestrian traffic, the police release said, and also to “remove materials which could potentially be used to create an illegal barrier.”

“When the area is cleared of structures and debris, and made safe, picketers will be permitted to walk freely in the area with signage and other informational materials,” the police said. “Vehicles not related to the operation of the businesses in the area will not be permitted.”

The police have been ticketing some vehicles and towing others away from the site in recent days.

Doherty, who isn’t allowed near the refinery due to mischief charges that have been laid against him, said he was told fuel trucks were being allowed into the refinery. Both the police and the CRC confirmed that fuel trucks are entering and exiting all of the refinery’s properties.

“The Regina Police Service has decided that they needed to work for the Co-op, I guess, and ensure that the trucks could get in and out of the facility before anything was out from the contempt charges that the judge heard (Thursday),” Doherty said.

The parties were in Court of Queen’s Bench on Thursday as the CRC reportedly sought heavy penalties against the union and its officials for violating a previous injunction. The justice reserved his decision.

Doherty said that while some of the fences have come down at the refinery, the union still has picketers on the line.

“We have people at Gate 7, obviously,” he said. “We moved people from all of the other places simply because the Regina Police Service was doing our jobs anyway; nobody was allowed to get in there …

“We’re obviously going to figure out what our next steps are based on the fact that the Regina Police Service once again has interfered and shown that they’re not indifferent in this. They’ve certainly taken sides once again.”

Doherty said there was “some interaction” between picketers, Unifor security people and police officers Thursday night, but there weren’t any confrontations or arrests.

FYI for your #yqrtraffic commute: @reginapolice have blocked off 9th Ave. N from Winnipeg to MacDonald Street; it’s the stretch of road that runs along the Co-op oil refinery. pic.twitter.com/MJBEDLpXpc

— Evan Radford (@EvanRadford) February 7, 2020

More to come.