Yesterday, January 20th, York University announced their plan to implement a phased return to in-person classes between January 31st and February 14th. The CUPE 3903 executive committee takes the position that this plan is disruptive and truly harmful, putting the administration’s desire for a rushed campus return over the safety and mental health of the York community.
We are all educators, and many of us are students. There is no denying the value of in-person learning and the importance of community engagement. We also recognize the efforts of instructors and staff who continue to provide quality learning remotely and our ongoing struggle to fight isolation where it is necessary to keep ourselves, our families, and our communities safe. Some sacrifices are worth it when the consequences are measured in lives.
Despite what President Rhonda Lenton claimed at the January 21st town hall, Omicron is not a mild virus. Its highly infectious nature means that even if fewer people get severely ill proportionally, more people will become sick – many seriously ill – as already reflected in the rising hospitalization and ICU rates. It is also too early to say with any confidence that Omicron will lead to fewer cases of “long COVID,” a set of medium to long-term conditions that affect a significant number of people who have been infected with the virus.
Instead of seriously considering these risks, the administration’s erratic and uncompromising approach has exacerbated the confusion and hardship we are already experiencing. Constant changes have made it difficult for us to plan our work and home lives longer-term. In the meantime, York has not implemented the steps required to keep us safe.
We believe the solution is simple:
- Courses that are able to run remotely should remain online until they can run safely.
- Courses that need to run in-person need to be properly supported so they can run safely
In the meantime, we demand York take the necessary steps for a safe return including:
- Upgrades to ventilation and making the audits publicly available.
- Expedient, responsive, transparent, and fair accommodations process for medical and family status accommodations without the need to renew each term.
- Accessible rapid tests and supply of N95 masks for staff, faculty, and students who have to be on campus.
- Adequate and transparent reporting of YU daily screening data and contact tracing.
- Opportunity to practice social distancing in all classrooms, especially in those where strenuous physical activity takes place, like dance classes.
- Any return to campus needs to have adequate notice time (more than three weeks) so that members can obtain their booster shots, adapt their lives, classes, and access the workplace accommodations process if necessary.
CUPE 3903 will oppose any return to in-person teaching that does not meet these reasonable and necessary steps. Until York can ensure a safe return, the bare minimum is to respect instructors’ choice over the delivery method of their course.
We call on President Lenton and the wider York administration to take the steps above and finally commit to providing the York community with the consistency, safety, and respect they need in order to do their jobs and engage in their studies. The current evasive attitude by the administration and failure to enact proactive safety measures are having profound and detrimental effects on the entire York community.