THUNDER BAY -- Bombardier has filed for an injunction over safety concerns on the picket line.
Company spokesperson Stephanie Ash said the application was filed Wednesday afternoon after several employees raised safety concerns after crossing the picket line on Day 3 of the strike Wednesday morning.
"The issue is that we're wanting to develop a protocol whereby we can ensure that our employees can get in and out of the workplace safely," Ash said, adding that about 400 people still need to go to work daily.
It's now a matter between company and union lawyers.
But Unifor Local 1075 president Dominic Pasqualino said the company has been planning on filing for an injunction since Day 1.
"Nobody has been threatened and nobody has been harmed or any of that to get through," he said. "If anybody thinks they're being threatened or is afraid I can personally assure their safety going through there. None of our guys are going to be doing any kind of that stuff."
Pasqualino thinks the real reason the company has filed for the injunction is that the union has so much support.
People are on the picket line even when they don't need to be there. An injunction could make it so the union has less people on Montreal Street.
"It's because it (would) make us look weak," he said. "We're not weak."
But Ash said it's just to make sure that everyone gets in and out of work safely.
Anytime the union is willing to compromise, the company is willing to head back to the negotiation table.
"The ultimate goal is to reach an agreement," she said.
