On February 28, 2013 a massive police presence greeted an Ontario Federation of Labour rally on behalf of COPE Local 343. These workers were forced to strike by Porter airlines in order to get a first collective agreement with basic health and safety conditions and a living wage. Police protected replacement workers who drove recklessly through a picket line. Police then forced back demonstrators to make way for a Porter bus to get through while Sid Ryan was about to make a speech. Later a riot squad on horseback were called in, ostensibly to clear the road for an ambulance that the rally leadership had offered to let through 20 minutes earlier.