Safety top of mind for Regina's mayor, police chief in talks with Unifor

Regina's mayor says community safety is one of his top priorities when it comes to a dispute between locked-out refinery employees and their employer.

Mayor Michael Fougere sat down with president Jerry Dias on Friday afternoon, as members of the union gathered outside of city hall. He categorized the meeting as an "information exchange" and said Dias did not ask him to get involved in the matter.

"[It was] a very productive conversation, an interesting conversation," Fougere said of the meeting. 

Fougere said he spent the time expressing concern about public safety and access to the refinery in the event of an emergency. He also said he encouraged Dias to get back to the bargaining table with Co-op and resolve the dispute quickly. 

The mayor said Dias told him he understands the only way the dispute can be settled is through collective bargaining but didn't offer any information as to when the parties would resume talks. 

Fougere said the city is not a party in the dispute, but noted the city is affected by it. He said as mayor he's "staying away" from the dispute and not choosing sides.

He said he also expressed his concerns about public safety and desire to see both sides of the dispute return to the bargaining table as quickly as possible. 

Fougere said he can't think of any similar labour disputes that have happened in his political career.

"This is much more intense than I thought it would be." 

Blockades are illegal, says police chief

Regina Police Service chief Evan Bray said the blockades set up by Unifor members are illegal in a video statement released on Twitter on Friday evening. 

"[An investigation is] something that we've been working on," Bray said. 

He said the police service wouldn't be using tactics that could escalate the situation further like the arrest of Unifor's national president and a handful of members earlier this week. He said more "investigative" measures would be taken instead.

Safety is on the top of Bray's mind, too.

"In the last 24 hours, we've had conversations with Unifor and conversations with refinery management and both sides have agreed that it is very important we keep community safety in the front of our minds." 

Bray said because of that, there needs to be uninhibited access through at least one of the gates into the refinery facility. 

That was granted as of Friday morning according to Bray, who said one gate was dedicated to emergency access only.