Sick Days

: As teachers, we are lucky enough to have sick days that allow us to be able to care for our own children in such emergencies — sick days, incidentally, we had to fight over many years to win — but the same is not always true for the families of our students, according to Toronto Star. While the media has been focusing on teachers and their sick days — which all workers in Canada should benefit from — sadly, the real news story is the fact that Ontario does not have laws that guarantee paid, and in some cases, even unpaid, sick leave for workers. This is a daily reality in our classrooms. We see the impact of outdated employment standards in our classrooms every day, and it not just the lack of paid sick days. The glacial pace of addressing this outdated legislation, last revised 16 years ago, means that we are knowingly ignoring the basic human rights of our most vulnerable citizens. Precarious work, low wages, and unjust labour practices lead inevitably to worse outcomes for our affected students. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.