Unifor picketers trying to stay warm during cold snap

It’s hard enough getting locked out from your job and walking the picket line. Imagine doing it in the dead of winter.

That’s what Unifor Local 594 members are dealing with at Regina’s Co-op oil refinery, as the Saskatchewan-wide cold snap is now in Day 3 and temperatures in the city keep hovering around -20 C.

They’ve been picketing since Friday, when management locked them out after the union served strike notice.

Since the rush of cold Arctic air into the province, picketers have found all kinds of ways to keep warm, from the common-sense basics to the passion-driven creative.

“I bust out some salsa (dance) moves on the line here. That gets a lot of reaction from the drivers passing by,” Sheena Rivett said Wednesday with a laugh.

“I actually love to dance. I’ve been trained in Ukrainian dance, and ballroom, and salsa dancing.”

She figured if the cold keeps up and the lockout continues, she might have to take up the role of impromptu dance teacher.

“I think I’m going to need to start sometime soon, so I’m not the only one doing it,” Rivett said.

When she’s on the job at the refinery, she’s normally working out of the lab, testing samples. It means part of the day is spent inside and some of it outside to collect the samples.

Since she started walking the picket line, she also has learned how to layer her clothing, she said.

“You have to layer the heating pads in between your clothes, not right on your skin,” she said. “But if you’re wearing like two or three layers of socks, it’s not going to work on the outside. You have to put it in between your layers of socks.”

Mike Neigum is a scaffolder who has been in the business for 18 years, the last six of which have been at the oil refinery.

He’s used to being outdoors for an entire shift, using a tried-and-true formula to stay warm.

“It has not been too bad, as long as you keep moving. We’ve got our hand warmers and feet warmers. It seems to be OK. The key is to keep moving,” he said.

Scaffolders don’t have any secrets to staying warm that people don’t already know, Neigum said, except a new way to phrase it that might make it stick.

“We always say at work, ‘The heat’s in the tools, so make sure you use them,’ ” he said.

Cold weather can be an issue for the less-fortunate in the city.

According to the Regina Mobile Crisis Services website, there are beds available at many shelters in the city. However, the Kikinaw Residence at the YWCA was full as of Wednesday afternoon.

Environment Canada’s forecast high for Regina was a daytime high of -18 C on Wednesday, and a nighttime low of -21.

Wind chills values pushed the temperature lower into the -30s in the morning and early afternoon.