The picket line at D-J Composites in Gander has been flooded with Unifor members, many of whom have flown in just to be there, and now it appears the two sides may be headed to court over it.

Unifor spokesperson Natalie Clancy said Friday evening there will be a court hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. over the blockade.

It has also been confirmed that Premier Dwight Ball will meet with Unifor — which represents workers in Gander who have been locked out for 647 days.

D-J Composites considers the picket line at its Gander plant illegal and is talking to lawyers in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the president of a labour relations firm negotiating on the company's behalf.

"For us this is an illegal picket line. It's an illegal blockage," Ivano Andriani, president of The Pragmatic Group of Companies, told the St. John's Morning Show Friday.

The company is speaking publicly now in response to the activity of the last few days, Andriani said.

On Wednesday Unifor, the union representing the locked-out D-J Composites workers, held a large rally at the company's Gander site.

The next day union members protested at the offices of Gander MHA and Health Minister John Haggie's office, as well as the Grand Falls-Windsor office of Labour Minister Al Hawkins.

When asked about a fence Unifor put up around the D-J Composites site, Andriani said while he was aware materials had been brought on site for a fence he wasn't aware it had been constructed.

"I'm not sure whose property that fence is on," he said.

"Obviously if it's placed on D-J's property or airport authority property, that would be a concern."

View photos CBC News More

The fence prevents both non-union D-J employees and replacement employees from entering the building, which is still closed as the protests continue.

"Kind of sounds like a police state to me," Andriani said.

"I don't think that's what's on in Newfoundland. I don't think that's what Newfoundlanders would expect, but it's happening right under our very noses in Gander, Newfoundland."

D-J Composites willing to negotiate: Andriani

The union says they are not being unduly aggressive, but are responding to escalations from D-J Composites.

"What's aggressive is 647 days on a picket line for 30 workers here in Gander," Lana Payne, a director with Unifor, said Thursday.

But Andriani says D-J Composites is not going to negotiate a new collective agreement in public.

View photos Garrett Barry/CBC More

Story continues