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GUELPH, Ont. As a strike at the University of Guelph looms, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 1334, the trades, maintenance and service workers will hold an information picket tomorrow (Thursday, February 28).
We will march from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Branion Plaza at the University of Guelph to explain to students, faculty, other unions and the public, how we have come to such a stage, said Janice Folk-Dawson, president of CUPE 1334. The university is demanding concessions to our benefits and pensions that we cannot accept.
The University of Windsor has reached a tentative no concessions agreement (to be ratified in the coming weeks) with their workers, and there is no reason that the University of Guelph cannot do the same thing. We’re only asking for a fair deal.
CUPE 1334, trades, maintenance, and service workers are the employees who keep the university clean and operating efficiently.
If we are forced to strike, it will be detrimental to the students and faculty who have had to work in an environment that is not being maintained to the standard we expect from our universities.
It will also be embarrassing for the university. Our strike date is March 8, and the week of March 10 is Campus Preview Days when prospective students and their parents visit the university as they consider the university of their choice. As well, the following weekend is College Royal Open House when there will be 30,000 visitors to our campus, Folk-Dawson concluded.
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For further information, contact:
Janice Folk-Dawson, President Wendy Forbes
CUPE 1334 CUPE Communications Rep.
519-766-8376 (cell) 416-292-3999
519-836-5470 (union office)
