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According to statements from both sides, the two sides are meeting because the union agreed to follow Justice Janet McMurtry’s injunction order, allowing all vehicles entry and exit from the Co-op Refinery Complex (CRC). This includes all CRC gates, the refinery business office and McDonald Street terminal. The injunction, imposed in late December, limited how long pickets could delay vehicles at the CRC. But within weeks, the union erected fences and reinforced them with vehicles and wooden pallets.

In a release, the company had said the union had to dismantle the blockade at Gate 7 and follow the court order for negotiations to resume.

Photo by TROY FLEECE / Regina Leader-Post

Doherty said the barricades around the CRC are set to come down Friday morning as talks resume. But he said should anything change, or should FCL bargain in bad faith, the union is ready to double down on it’s previous action.

“We’re also willing to put the barricades up as quickly as they come down if in fact bargaining doesn’t proceed the way it should go and we can’t get a deal,” he said.

As of early Thursday evening, the barricades still appeared intact.

In its release announcing the return to bargaining, Unifor said, “Out of respect for the collective bargaining process, no other information will be released until a tentative agreement is reached or talks break off.”

But there were plenty of words said at the rally outside the Legislative Building.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, addressed the crowd, saying the workers he represents in Alberta salute their efforts.