Fences barricading Co-op retail stores and gas bars have escalated tensions between Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) and Unifor this week.

On Gormley on Friday, FCL executive vice-president Vic Huard called the erection of fences around stores in Weyburn and Regina “uncharted territory” when it comes to labour disputes in the province. He added that no one could have contemplated the level of “illegality or, frankly, arrogance” from the union.

That said, the company hasn’t tried to remove the fences that were put up.

“Taking the fence down is not something we want to do, to be honest,” Huard said. “That would raise conflict and direct conflict and put people in harm’s way. The last thing we want to do is put our employees in harm’s way (and) our members and customers in harm’s way. That’s not a situation we want to get into.”

While the company may have stopped short of tearing down the fences, Huard said that doesn’t mean FCL is taking these actions passively.

Huard said FCL has called local police forces to deal with fences when they go up. But he said that, after assessing the scenes to date, neither RCMP officers in Weyburn nor officers with the Regina Police Service have enforced or made any orders to the union members to take down fences.

Huard asked customers to be patient because the fences at retail locations have come down by the end of every day.

He noted the company is working closely with local police forces and also is examining legal options.

FCL returned to court Thursday for a contempt hearing regarding the original court injunction that stopped the union from barricading or detaining people at the picket line for too long.

The issues of fences around retail locations also may come up in a courtroom in the future.

“It’s pretty clear to us that no one has the right to barricade private property and interfere with mobility rights of third parties. These actions are frankly illegal, they’re unlawful and we believe the courts ultimately will rule,” Huard said. “We have to have confidence that the system will work as it’s intended to work in the long term.”

The fencing is the latest tactic used by Unifor in its labour dispute with the Co-op Refinery Complex, which locked out union members Dec. 5.

Huard said another of the union’s tactics during the dispute — Unifor called for a boycott of Co-op products across Western Canada — has been “a failure” and he said he has the sales numbers to prove it.

“If the boycott was working,” Huard said, “they wouldn’t have to resort to illegal tactics.”

Scott Doherty, the executive assistant to Unifor’s national president, said there wasn’t anything in the initial court order that pertained to secondary picketing. He maintains the fences around retail stores are legal.

“First of all, I don’t think that (the fence is) on private property,” he said. “And I would say that Co-op isn’t a judge, so I would say that a judge will determine whether or not it’s illegal or the Regina Police Service. Certainly Co-op doesn’t get to determine that.”

In an emailed statement, the Regina Police Service said its role in any labour dispute is to keep the peace, protect lives and property and ensure everyone’s rights and freedoms are protected.

“Avoiding escalation and working out disagreements peacefully is the responsibility of both sides of this matter, and police involvement should be a last resort,” the RPS’s statement read.

RPS officers were in contact with both sides when it came to the fence around the Home Centre on Winnipeg Street and are investigating to determine if any criminal wrongdoing took place. Police also checked to make sure the fence complied with safety regulations.

Doherty specified the fences were set up on easements, which are considered public land, and not on the parking lots of businesses, which are private property.

“We have a right to secondary picket and we have a right to do what we believe is our legal right to provide information to people,” Doherty said.

While recognizing the fences create a disruption to the public, he pointed to the lockout as a disruption to the workers. Doherty said Unifor will continue to escalate actions to spread the message and pressure FCL to go back to the bargaining table to resolve the dispute.

He said that resolution won’t happen with the company going back and forth to the courts to worry about the legality of the union’s actions. It will be resolved at a bargaining table.