Holding an information picket?
Here is a starting guide, which offers some DO's and DON'Ts

An information picket is first and foremost an activity designed to share information with the public, we are trying to win public support, and win battle in the court of public opinion.

An information picket is not officially supposed to be a slowdown, although that is normally the consequence of the activity.

People to contact

Local police

• Talk to “labour” person or officer on duty the day of the event

• Advise of intentions

• Try to build a personal, positive rapport; establish trust; police should not share details of the picket with management or "everyone else", confirm with the person that they will keep picket confidential

• Sharing information with a police contact is part of our strategy, but there is no need to tell them all, some information is good

• If police contact is "old school" and wants to play hard ball, and insists we follow their "orders", get local labour lawyer to call police service lawyer and provide update on current civil law, meaning to tell them we don’t want unnecessary arrests and that picketing is a legal civil process in Canada

• Enquire about need for local demonstration permit, if required

Management

• Seek an agreement specifying where to picket

• An Agreement can allow for a 3-hour picket, with no surprises, with lots of information shared with the public, and with media presence providing full coverage

• No Agreement can lead to surprises, a planned 3-hour picket cut back to 20 minutes because management intervened, with little information actually shared with the public and with little media coverage other than a likely media focus on management putting an end to things

Media

• Call the news desks of local and regional TV, newspaper, and radio stations: having media presence makes the event way more worthwhile than no media presence because it helps us get the message and information out

• Be sure to tell media contacts not to call management for comments before the start time of the information picket if they want such comments; meaning obtain their commitment to confidentiality before sharing details of the picket

• Tell them what is happening, where, when, why, who is involved, what the impact may be, etc. 

Local businesses

• Contact businesses near the picket and tell them we don't want to interrupt their business but that we want to give information out and we need their support

Other unions

• Seek their support and support from their members

Local labour lawyer

• Picketing decisions to be aware of

  • OPSEU

  • National Gallery of Canada

  • Pepsi Cola

• Local lawyer is important because what is considered an appropriate wait time or what could be deemed unreasonable delay is largely influenced by previous local judicial interpretations 

Things you'll need

• Video recorder, with blank tapes, and battery power for several hours

• Bull horn

• Traffic pylons, or road flares, to help guide traffic down to one lane

• Traffic jersey for the picket captain

• Pickets

• Information flyers, make sure to include the contact information of key people like the Minister, the Commissioner, an Assistant Commissioner

Optional things to bring

• Portable potty, if no facilities close-by are available

• Flags

• Dixieland Band

• Hot dogs

• Soft drinks

• Fire barrel, must have a BBQ grill – even if only to heat a potato until it’s charcoal black (barrel for heating only is illegal) 

Do not bring

• Kids

• Pets

• Aggressive, violent or intimidating attitudes

On the picket

• Picket on public, not private property

• Select a picket captain

• Have picket captain introduce self to police

• Avoid confrontation

• Avoid intimidation

• Work to win public support

• Encourage drivers to honk horns in support

• Video tape the show

• Approach drivers of every vehicles, introduce selves, give the information flyer, comfort and reassure anyone afraid or upset; communication is crucial

• Don’t delay medical traffic

• Watch for hardcore members and work with others to keep them calm and peaceful

• Management escorts and police escorts through the line must be allowed

• Keep atmosphere positive, sing and chant, consider giving hot dogs and pop to those waiting

• Consider hiring a band to play tunes

• Keep moving, usually in circle, otherwise activity becomes obstruction, which is illegal

• At end of picket, pick up all the garbage, cups, etc., and make sure to follow all city By-laws

• Ask truck drivers if they support or not: if they do and turn around, it must be made clear they tell their supervisors they supported us and not that we denied them access to cross the picket

• Remember to let 2 to 3 cars through now and then, a 30-minute wait is likely too long a wait

• Plan for media grabs (things that make good visuals for TV) such as a Dixieland band portraying a positive atmosphere, or a few members in clown suits saying things like “we want management to stop clowning around” or “we want management to stop treating us like clowns” 

About police arrests or charges

• Assault is subject to police laying charges

• Yelling aggressively and intimidating can also lead police to lay charges

• A police arrest means police do not yet have enough evidence to lay a charge and the arrest is usually intended by police as a warning, to allow for a cool down, and usually to stop the commission of a crime before it happens

• Once police lay a charge it usually means they have evidence a crime has been committed

Management's hired security company?

• Management may hire a security company to watch protesters and collect evidence; keep in mind tape recordings by this company may help members if members play by the rules

Secondary picketing

• Secondary picketing is legal; meaning it is legal to picket any business associated with the employer and the employer need not be picketed first or at the same time the secondary picket is going to take place (examples of places for secondary picketing: duty-free shop, brokers, warehouses)

Have a Plan "B"

• Plan a second location where to hold the picket if management changes its mind and successfully interferes; for example, management could reroute all traffic

• Plan to hold the picket on another day, when management won't be aware