/R E P E A T -- UWO police rally ahead of strike deadline/

LONDON, ON, May 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Members of the University of Western Ontario's Campus Community Police Service will rally on Friday as the date for a possible work stoppage approaches.

Date:	Friday, May 13, 2016
Time:	8:45 a.m.
Location:	Gates to the university on Western Road at the corner of Lambton Drive, near the entrance to Alumni Hall

The 10-member campus police service, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), has been without a contract since June 30, 2015. Mediation is scheduled for Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20. A strike or lockout is possible as soon as May 21 at 12:01 a.m.

OPSEU Local 102 president Julie McGuffin said the rally had been organized to raise awareness of the vital importance of the campus police to students, staff and visitors to the university and Brescia, Huron and King's University colleges.

"These dedicated officers have been without a contract for almost a year," said McGuffin. "Despite our best efforts to get the employer to the table, the university refuses to bargain in good faith. Their demands are modest, but the work they do is vitally important to the life of this great institution.

"No one knows their way around this maze of buildings like they do. Nobody else can possibly respond to emergencies as quickly."

SOURCE Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)

Julie McGuffin, 519-859-9102