Our response to this morning’s announcement by Minister Lecce
“The OSBCU is pleased that the government has now included on-site education workers as part of the workforce eligible for emergency child care, after their initial exclusion. We await to receive formal documentation on the announcement and are hopeful that the language includes all workers who require being on-site, namely EAs, custodial and maintenance staff.
While this expansion does support the thousands of education workers that are in our school buildings providing services, we have concerns about the back-to-school plan. A large number of education workers will continue to face challenges in juggling full-time work while helping their children with virtual learning.
At this point we question the sustainability of this plan – or lack of one – for families and educators. To that end we urge the province to bring together all stakeholders to develop a real and effective plan to address the safe return to school yet again. It is clear there is more to be done, and soon, to ensure that our staff and students are safe tomorrow, and in the future”
