WINNIPEG, Canada—The University of Manitoba will lock out as many as 27 security personnel on Friday if security staff rejects a contract offer from the university.
One of the reasons security personnel would reject the contract is due to a clause that would allow the university to reduce staffing levels, according to CTV News. Security officers are expected to vote on the contract on Thursday. Contract negotiations have been going on for more than a year.
However, students believe that university officials should expand security services, not cut back. Students have been calling for an increase in security since last fall, when a student was stabbed five times outside of the school of music and the June attack of a graduate student who was struck from behind while inside her office. The university promised to boost security after each attack.
Currently, only two officers and a supervisor are monitoring the Fort Garry campus, which has a population of 35,000. Meanwhile, the Bannatyne campus has two officers for roughly 1,000 people.
It is unclear what the university will do for security if a lockout does take effect on Friday.
