Danny Cavanagh: Taxpayers should not be bailing out profitable corporations, but that is what we see proposed in Ontario with its 3-day sick leave plan which is inadequate for workers and unfair to taxpayers. Employers should pay for sick leave, and if they really need help, they must be required to prove they need that help.
Early childhood educators are calling on the Rankin government to make their health and safety at work a top priority during the circuit breaker and school closures currently happening in Halifax, Nova Scotia. If child care centres remain open during the current circuit breaker, additional preventative measures need be taken to reduce the risk for staff and for the children.
Kendall Worth: We are in another lockdown in HRM. People in my community tell me that they are discouraged and scared. It has just been one thing after another. The bomb of social isolation has hit them hard.
Nova Scotia Federation of Labour President Danny Cavanagh says that Premier Rankin’s COVID-19 press conference today shows the provincial government does not understand how the federal sick leave program works.
Media release: With growing numbers of school COVID-19 cases along with confirmation of community spread inside the HRM and potentially other regions, the NSTU is questioning why public health has not advised government to pivot to full remote learning at more schools.
As infection numbers in Nova Scotia reach record highs, prisoner advocates are asking that the province vaccinate incarcerated individuals and correctional staff within the provincial prison system. This demand is even more urgent as the province is considering another mass release similar to the one early on during the pandemic.
Media release from the East COast Prison Justice Society: We are alarmed to learn that there has been no vaccination rollout either for provincial prisoners or correctional staff, despite prisons being obvious vectors of community and institutional co-transmission, and the heightened vulnerability & disproportionate numbers of Indigenous, racialized, and disabled prisoners.
Media release: With case numbers of COVID-19 escalating among school aged children and with many ndw variants in the province, the risk has clearly increased. However, the government has not done enough in response to reduce the risk.
Representatives from the Nova Scotia School Board Council of Unions are pleased that Nova Scotia Public Health and the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) have taken decisive action today, closing 32 schools due to the discovery of active cases of COVID-19 in at least nine public schools this week.
Media release: Nova Scotia Federation of Labour President Danny Cavanagh says now is the time to see Nova Scotia implement paid sick days as our COVID cases continue to climb and a 4 week lockdown is in place. With 38 new cases today, new variants, and many schools closed, our government must ensure worker safety is front and center.