FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 17, 2002

Media advisory:
Casselman in court

Toronto - OPSEU President Leah Casselman will be in court in Newmarket Monday morning after a judge cited her for contempt.

The appearance will be at the Newmarket courthouse:

50 Eagle Street West
(At Yonge and Eagle, south of Davis Drive)
at 9:00 a.m.

Casselman will be greeted by an information picket of supporters prior to her court appearance. She will be available to media afterward.

By coincidence, the court date is the sixth anniversary of the day OPSEU faced the law in the last OPS strike. It was March 18, 1996, that OPSEU strikers at the provincial legislature were assaulted by the OPP riot squad in a bloody and violent confrontation.

The citation stemmed from an incident Friday, when prison inmates scheduled to appear in a Newmarket court failed to appear. The judge asked why they weren’t present and was told it was because of the OPSEU strike. He then cited union president Casselman for contempt.

OPSEU represents the correctional officers and other staff in the province’s jails and detention centres. It also represents the court staff who work in the Newmarket and other court offices across the province.

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For further information:

Katie FitzRandolph: 416-448-7440 or cell 416-788-9057 or kfitzrandolph@opseu.org
Randy Robinson: 416-448-7441 or cell 416-788-9134 or rrobinson@opseu.org