Rally held to Protect Communities when Schools Shutdown

BY PAUL JUNOR

The start of 2021 was inaugurated with an Education Worker Car Caravan on Saturday, January 2^nd, 2021, at Hart House Circle at the University of Toronto, sponsored by the Ontario Education Workers Group (OEWG). They are committed to reversing all of the Ford government cuts to K-12 education funding and support in Ontario. The following activist and advocacy groups endorsed it: The Decent Work and Health Network, $15 and Fairness, Ontario Parent Action Network (OPAN) and Standing Up for Racial Justice.

The headline of the rally was,” Protect Communities when Schools Shutdown.” There were four specific demands that they made of the government:

• Barrier-free income supports to anyone forced out of work due to closures
• Immediate rent relief and a province-wide ban on evictions
• Paid sick days for all
• Status for all

Ontario Parent Action Network on its Twitter account at @parentaction4ed is described as, “Families fighting for fully- funded, equitable public education for kids across ON.” It is currently conducting a survey at ourschoolplan.ca. Twitter is flagging the survey, but anyone can do the survey safely.

Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) on its Twitter account at @SURJ states, “SURJ Toronto is organizing white people to act for racial justice with accountability. What side of history will you be on?”

During the caravan, cars decorated with slogans beeped their horns and circled around the Ontario Legislature Building. The demonstration was intended to put pressure on the government to take steps to provide additional support to families during the pandemic.

Melanie Wilson, a high school teacher and member spoke out on January 2^nd, 2021 in a news release, “The only way this lockdown will keep us safe is if families and workers throughout the province get: paid sick leave, easy to access rent and income support for caregivers, a can on evictions, and status for all migrant workers.”

Rachel Huot, a member of OPAN stated in a release, “While school closures are needed, without sufficient supports for parents and families it is a public health and education disaster. No parents should face losing their job, or not being able to pay rent or feed their family. Closing schools without giving every parent the sick-leave and caregiver protections they need is a direct attack on the very workers and families working so hard to keep us safe.”

Laura McCoy who teaches middle school stated in the release that there are difficulties put on families because of no income and rent support. “Everyone in the education system is doing the best they can under incredibly stressful circumstances, and that’s why it’s outrageous that the Ford government isn’t doing everything they can. Paid sick days and stopping all evictions is only essential but easy for the government to do. They’ve done it before and our students and their families need them to do it again.”

Toronto.com reported on January 2^nd, 2021 that the lockdown has been particularly difficult for occasional teachers and those education workers who do have full-time status. The closure of schools for an extended period of time will have a significant economic and financial impact on these teachers and potentially custodians according to OEWU.