The work refusal process, which began Jan. 19 when Toronto schools resumed in-person learning, started with health and safety inspectors from the board and union trying to address the teachers’ concerns, then escalated to include inspections from the ministry. It found no safety concerns that needed to be addressed by the school or the Toronto District School Board. Those were paid work days, so they used their laptops to update Google classroom and respond to emails. The labour ministry has conducted over 1,770 COVID-related field visits in schools and post-secondary institutions since the pandemic began, a spokesperson said. The labour ministry is currently not enforcing N95 masking as they are “not required in most settings or activities involving education workers,” a spokesperson said.

Source: thestar January 28, 2022 05:37 UTC