Accounting prof dies after picket line accident

NEWS RELEASE

ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION

******************** Union mourns John Stammers, 62

TORONTO, March 25 - It is with deep sorrow that the members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union learned of the death today of John Stammers, 62. John Stammers was a professor of Accounting at Centennial College in Scarborough.

He was critically injured after being struck by a car while on picket duty on March 20. "On behalf of my local, and all college faculty across the province, and all members of the union, I want to extend our condolences and our deepest sympathy to John's family," said Eileen Burrows, president of OPSEU Local 558.

"All of us at Centennial are devastated by this news. John was a wonderful colleague," Burrows said. "He was very popular with students. He was always patient. He always gave them all his time and attention. And he always took an interest in making the college work better for students." Mr. Stammers was a union supporter and a member of a local union committee, Burrows said. "The local has been receiving cards and e-mails of support from faculty members and OPSEU locals across the province ever since he was injured," she said. "John was a colleague who stood up for the same things all college faculty stood up for, and we will miss him."

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