OPSEU President calling on Ontario businesses to send workers home to prevent spread of COVID-19
Published March 13, 2020 at 6:59 pm
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is calling for business leaders to keep workers home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are calling on the province’s business leaders to send workers home for the next two weeks with full pay,” Warren Thomas, president of OPSEU, said in a news release.
“This includes part-time and precarious workers. We must do this to help stop the spread of this disease. This is not the time to be thinking about bottom lines; this is a call to arms in a battle of a generation,” he continued.
Despite the fact none of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19, OPSEU elected to close its offices across the province in order to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
“This is a global epidemic, and everyone has to do their part to ensure public safety. Government and the taxpayer can’t be the only ones making sacrifices,” Thomas said.
Thomas believes the risk of the virus spreading and causing a serious strain on the healthcare system–like what is happening in Italy–far outweighs the impact it will have on the economy.
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“We must let our health care officials do their jobs, without overwhelming them. That’s how we help them get this under control,” he said.
“If each of us doesn’t do our part to contain the spread, we’re doing a disservice to our frontline workers who are working tirelessly for the people they care for, and we risk compromising workers’ health, too. Let’s unite and stop putting people at risk,” he added.
Cover photo courtesy of OPSEU’s Twitter
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