The Peterborough Examiner e-edition

Some teachers refuse work due to concerns over virus

HOLLY MCKENZIE-SUTTER

TORONTO Mary Fraser-Hamilton spent part of last week sitting in her car instead of teaching in her classroom.

The Brampton drama teacher was one of 11 education workers in Ontario who initiated work refusals over COVID-19 safety concerns as students and staff members returned to in-person learning with less transparency about the virus in schools.

Teachers say they’re concerned about lack of information on cases now that the province has cut back on testing and contact tracing, as well as ventilation standards and student mask quality. They consider individual labour action one of the last options they have to advocate for stronger safety standards in schools — but remain worried student safety issues are falling through the cracks.

“We aren’t organizing or anything. We’re all just fed up,” FraserHamilton said in an interview.

People have a right to refuse work they believe is unsafe under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. Once reported, the Ministry of Labour dispatches an inspector to look into whether a hazard exists and, if so, what can be done to correct it. Investigations vary depending on the workplace and type of issue being raised.

Fraser-Hamilton initiated a work refusal Wednesday, based on concerns about ventilation, student mask quality and adherence, lack of access to virus tests and contact tracing. She said she was also worried about the lack of a safety plan for lunchtime when students are unmasked.

By Friday, she was back in the classroom, after Ministry of Labour inspectors visited and determined that most of her concerns regarding student PPE standards weren’t relevant to her individual safety as a worker, she said.

Fraser-Hamilton said the issue of ventilation is still being looked into and she’s not ruling out another work refusal depending on what is discovered.

In the meantime, she said she’s frustrated concerns over student masking don’t fall under the ministry’s purview. “If my students can’t be safe, I don’t understand how anyone thinks that I can be safe,” she said. “That for me was the most frustrating part about it.”

There were 11 documented work refusals in Ontario’s education sector over the week of Jan. 17, according to the Labour Ministry. Inspectors responded to them in boards covering schools in Peel Region, Simcoe County, Toronto and Hamilton-Wentworth.

A spokesperson for the ministry did not speak to specific cases, such as Fraser-Hamilton’s, but said one closed investigation was resolved internally and another four were found not to meet the criteria of a work refusal or unlikely to endanger the worker.

The 11 education-sector refusals made up more than half of the total 18 pandemic-related work refusals the ministry has investigated so far this month. Between January 2020 and December 2021, the ministry said there were 53 virus-related work refusals in Ontario schools.

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2022-01-26T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-26T08:00:00.0000000Z

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