It's report card time for Premier Ford! 

Education Workers give Premier Doug Ford a Failing Grade

Join us on Monday, June 28, as educators, parents and community members deliver report cards to Premier Doug Ford and other Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) who are part of the Ford government. Participation is easy!

SOCIAL MEDIA:

• Click here to download a report card to share on social media
• Consider using the hashtags #FordFailed #SafeEducation #PaidSickDays and #Justice4Workers
• Tag @FordNation and any other member of the Ford cabinet

• Click here to download a report card and deliver it to your nearest Conservative MPP riding office
• Tape the report card to the door or window of the riding office
• Post a pic on social media
• Please wear PPE and be safe for all in-person actions!

“This government has failed students, their families and educators,” says Tola Ajao, an educator based in Toronto. “Chronic underfunding means ventilation systems are failing to protect students, educators and other workers in the classroom. With the COVID variants being airborne and class sizes exceeding public health advice for indoor activities, this last year has been a colossal failure.”

Meanwhile, the government’s failure to protect workers in frontline jobs has also increased the risks of COVID transmission in the schools, says Susan Rab, an Ottawa-based educator. She is especially concerned about the government’s failure to legislate permanent paid sick days and its decision to cancel the two paid sick days that had briefly been part of the Employment Standards Act.

“When parents don’t have paid sick days, they can’t stay home with symptomatic children and they certainly can’t stay home to self-isolate whether it be COVID or the common flu,” Rab explained. “And there are all kinds of education workers from early childhood educators to supply teachers and from school bus drivers to custodians who don’t have paid sick days and who are forced to work despite symptoms.” 

Hayssam Hulays can see the impact in the classroom of the government’s decision to cancel the $15 minimum wage. “When kids’ parents are struggling to make ends meet in low wage, precarious jobs, they very often struggle with housing, with acquiring decent internet service and with providing the computer equipment that has been so essential for students over the past year,” says Hulays. “And I’ve seen students who work part-time -- even full-time -- while going to school, trying to help parents pay the bills.”

“It’s never been more clear to me that the Justice for Workers demands for decent work and wages, including paid sick days and health benefits, are a fundamental pillar of safe education and safe communities,” says Hulays.