Nearly half of B.C. teachers say they don't feel safe at work, survey from union suggests
With the COVID-19 pandemic well into its fourth wave in B.C., a survey of teachers in the province suggests nearly half don't feel safe at work.
Results from a poll conducted by the B.C. Teachers' Federation surveyed nearly 6,000 union members. While about 46 per cent indicated they feel at least somewhat safe at work, 42 per cent said they did not.
The survey also revealed 51 per cent didn't think the health-and-safety measures in schools are adequate to keep everyone safe.
"Given the near impossibility of physical distancing in most B.C. classrooms, other safety measures become even more important. Masks are now mandated for all (kindergarten to Grade 12) students and adults working in schools," a summary of the survey's results says.
"However, 53 per cent of teachers feel that the frequency of cleaning/sanitation in schools is inadequate for helping reduce the spread of COVID-19."
More than 80 per cent of teachers surveyed also indicated they felt their mental health has worsened throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the pandemic began, teachers have frequently called for stronger COVID-19 measures. Even when B.C. extended its mask mandate to younger grades, the BCTF's president said those rules should have been implemented a lot sooner.
The union has also called for more transparent data on school exposures, but the BCTF's survey revealed 71 per cent still feel they don't get adequate information about COVID-10 cases in their own workplace.
Additionally, the union's asked for a province-wide vaccine mandate for staff, rather than one that's implemented by individual districts.
"Any vaccine mandate would need to be provincially implemented and done equitably. We can’t have unequal treatment of workers in the public education system," Teri Mooring, BCTF's president, said earlier this month.
The BCTF said its random-sample survey was completed among 5,996 active members between Sept. 22 and Oct. 11. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.