Regina police chief says Unifor, refinery ‘holding our city hostage’

Regina city officials are calling for a peaceful resolution through bargaining to the labour dispute between Unifor and the Co-op refinery after the situation escalated Monday.

Regina Police Service officers arrested 14 picketers at the refinery Monday night, including national union president Jerry Dias.

“I really hope (a solution) happens because I really feel like without choosing sides, right now both sides are essentially holding our city hostage at this point. I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think it’s fair to the taxpayers of our city,” RPS Chief Evan Bray told reporters Tuesday morning.

Picketers climbed on top of a U-Haul that was being taken away by police at the picket line in front of the refinery on Jan. 20, 2020. (Jessie Anton/980 CJME)

He was referring to the deployment of around 50 police officers who responded to a complete blockade of the refinery, including padlocks on emergency access gates for ambulances and fire trucks.

Bray said he visited the RPS’s communications centre Monday at about 10:45 p.m., at which point he realized just what kind of an impact the call to the refinery was having on the force.

“I walked into a communications centre full of 911 operators and dispatchers and call-takers handling firearm calls, a stabbing, an accident — the normal happenings that happen unfortunately in a night in the city of Regina,” Bray said. “For them, this distraction (at the refinery) was really that.”

Not only was the team of officers at the refinery, Bray said, but one of the dispatchers had to be assigned to handle just the radio traffic that went along with that call.

Fire Chief Layne Jackson said public safety is a top priority and the tactics to barricade the emergency gates posed a risk.

“We had been a week ago working with them to ensure that we had clear and free access for emergency vehicles. That degraded (Monday) where we determined we needed to issue an order,” Jackson explained.

Regina police were able to remove the padlock on the emergency gate in time to allow an ambulance to get through the line to respond to a medical call from inside the refinery.

While the union accused police of overstepping their authority by making arrests, Bray defended and commended the professionalism and respect shown by officers while making arrests.

“Our officers that were out there (Monday) night I thought were so very respectful in how they handled those situations,” Bray said. “They took a lot and gave very little back. In fact what they did give back was professionalism and respect and I’m very proud of that.”

All 14 people were charged with public mischief, which was unrelated to the court injunction previously issued against barricading the refinery site. Bray explained additional charges are possible pending investigations and reviewing video evidence from the scene.

On Tuesday, Dias accused police of acting like thugs and said they should be ashamed of themselves. Bray suggested the reverse, noting the comments were somewhat aggressive during Dias’ arrest and said the officer who arrested Dias didn’t flinch and maintained respect.

“I don’t know that gentleman at all. I know that sometimes if you give a person a fur coat they think they’re King Kong and at the end of the day nobody’s above the law,” Bray said in response to Dias’ use of that analogy in an interview with Gormley to describe police behaviour.

“Nobody is above the law. Whether you’re chief of police, whether you’re mayor of the city or whether you’re president of a national union, there still are consequences to breaking the law criminally.”

Bray also pointed a finger at the behaviour of union members like Dias who are being flown in from outside of Saskatchewan to join the picket lines. Eight were from Ontario and four were from B.C.

“Predominantly the number of people we arrested (Monday) night were not from Saskatchewan. They have no vested interest in our community or community safety,” Bray said.

He understands the role picketers play to force employers back to the bargaining table as an important tactic for labour relations in the country, but said their actions cannot get to the point of breaking the law.

“(There’s an) understanding that there are two sides to this but understanding that within the labour side there are people from our community and there are people that are not and I think we’re seeing a difference in behaviour,” Bray said.

When asked what steps the RPS will take going forward to manage the situation at the refinery, Bray said the police are maintaining a presence and working with various parties to determine a game plan.

He said the ultimate goal is to not have to make more arrests and to find a peaceful resolution without directing 50 police officers to the picket lines or barricades every day.

Bray said the resolution to these issues does not come down to law enforcement; it will come from both sides returning to the bargaining table.

Mayor Michael Fougere also expressed his concern about public safety as the labour dispute drags out and the situation gets more intense. While he called on both sides to find a solution, he also maintained a neutral position.

“It is really incumbent upon both the union and the company to look at the big picture of our community, what (the dispute) is doing to our community and to get back to the bargaining table and find a solution,” Fougere said.