By Ramisha Farooq
Toronto Police were contacted Wednesday after a call was made stating that there were CUPE1281 protesters outside of Ryerson’s Student Campus Centre (SCC) invading “the picket line.”
Five police officers appeared briefly to answer the call, asking CUPE1281 members questions and and then phoning back to division headquarters to check picketing rules, leaving shortly after.
Many CUPE members believe it was the CESAR president Shinae Kim who contacted police.
“You’ll have to ask Shinae,” said Mary-Joe Nadeau.
CUPE1281, Ryerson’s division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, was holding a Halloween themed rally to “scare away the lockout.”
Ryerson Students’ Union president, Melissa Palermo, also attended.
CESAR president Shinae Kim has said in a previous statement that picketers may cause delays upon entering the building.
Picketers don’t believe they were causing any disruptions but, simply handing out flyers.
Similarly on Sept. 30, someone inside the SCC made a call to police services stating that there were picketers both inside and outside the building disrupting the CESAR general members’ meeting.
The lockout was triggered earlier that day after weeks of discussion between CESAR executives and their staff on the topic of wage increases to a “cost of living standard” through a new collective bargaining agreement.
CESAR is now entering its third week of worker lockout.
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