CUPE wants mandatory masks when school begins in Saskatchewan, among other safety measures. (File Photo/The Canadian Press)

By Rob Mahon

CUPE Calls Out Province

Workers call for province-wide plan, mandatory masking as school year approaches

Aug 30, 2021 | 2:39 PM

School resumes in Saskatchewan this week, but there hasn’t yet been a comprehensive set of rules around COVID-19 protocols from the provincial government.

So far, they’ve mostly left such rules in the hands of individual school divisions.

A group representing over 7,000 educational support staff, including education assistants, library assistants and technicians, custodians, school secretaries, and bus drivers, would like to see that change.

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) wants to see province-wide guidelines, including a mandatory mask mandate for public schools, especially since kids born after 2009 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.

“We’re asking the government to coordinate at a provincial level,” said Rob Westfield, an education support worker and chair of CUPE Saskatchewan’s Education Workers’ Steering Committee. “Let’s stay with what worked for us this last year: social distancing, masking, enhanced sanitization.”

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In recent weeks, Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 case numbers have been on the rise. Hospitalizations have more than doubled since early June, and the seven-day average of daily new cases has climbed as well. Recently, active cases climbed above 2,000 for the first time since May.

“CUPE members working as education support staff are eager to return to classrooms, but they want to do so in a way that ensures everyone’s safety,” Westfield said.

Westfield also said they didn’t necessarily want to see a vaccine mandate as some people are still medically unable to get it. Making vaccines more available, however, is something they would get behind.

“We would like to see every CUPE member being vaccinated who can,” he said, “and strongly encourage efforts to make vaccination more accessible.”

According to a statement provided by CUPE, medical authorities in Saskatchewan have advised universal masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When Education Minister Dustin Duncan was asked about it on a recent morning show, his answer did not satisfy CUPE.

“The people of Saskatchewan need to ask their MLAs some hard questions,” Westfield said. “Such as: What are you doing to protect our children and ensure that they can be educated safely? Why is the government underfunding education at such an important juncture? And why are you not concerned with the safety of frontline education support staff?”

Westfield also said it was disheartening to be this close to the school year with no mandate, but there was still time to get the right protocols in place if the government could find the will.

Elementary and high school students are back in class again on September 2.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @RobMahonPxP