Protect our workers, Premier Ford
Big number: 282, the number of COVID- 19 outbreaks in Toronto connected to workplaces so far. More than half were related to workplaces in offices, warehousing, shipping and distribution, construction and manufacturing.
Spare a thought for Toronto’s workers. The people who have continued heading to factories, assembly lines, food processing facilities, construction sites, package distribution centres and other job sites even as COVID- 19 cases continue to rise and public health forecasts foretell doom.
Spare a thought for them, because they seem to have been mostly forgotten in the government response to the pandemic.
The data has suggested for months that people doing these kinds of jobs are at greater risk. Data released by Toronto Public Health shows COVID19 case rates among households who make less than $ 50,000 per year are more than 1.5 times higher than the overall rate, making it clear that people working lower- wage jobs are suffering more infections.
My Star colleague Sara Mojtehedzadeh has been reporting for months on the very important question of why more data hasn’t been available on workplace outbreaks. But it wasn’t until last week that Toronto started publishing hard numbers.
We know now that there have been 282 outbreaks at workplaces confirmed by Toronto Public Health. More than half of them have come from a category that includes offices, warehousing, shipping and distribution, construction and manufacturing.
Public health has provided no estimate on the number of cases linked to each outbreak, but bet that the numbers are high. An outbreak at a workplace, declared once two or more cases are detected, can lead to household transmission which can quickly lead to community spread. As a point of reference, when Toronto was dealing with bar and restaurant outbreaks in October, a single outbreak was linked to 1,700 potential exposures.
Which makes it all the more frustrating that there’s been no clear plan to stop this kind of transmission. Most of the government messaging over the last few months just hasn’t been applicable to people who work jobs that can’t be done from home and whose workplaces remain open.
For these workers, it does not matter how many “stay home” memes or TikTok videos politicians post. It doesn’t matter if there’s a curfew, or how forlorn Premier Doug Ford looks when he tells people about his government’s projections.
None of that matters if you’re a worker who feels lucky to still have a job amid the pandemic. If your employer tells you to show up, you’re going to show up. And if you notice your sense of smell is gone, you might just ignore it — better to not risk making your boss mad and you don’t have sick days to use anyway.
It’s long past time to get serious about protecting workers. Releasing the data like Toronto Public Health did is a good start. Every public health unit should follow. And be ruthless about it. We are long past the time when this was a poorly understood virus. Businesses that are seeing repeated outbreaks are almost certainly businesses that aren’t doing enough to protect their workers. Name and shame them.
And consider other penalties too. It’s long been established that Toronto Public Health will close restaurants that flagrantly violate health and safety rules. Why should other types of businesses not face similar scrutiny and consequences?
Governments have to do more too. Some of these businesses who aren’t truly essential should probably be closed for a few weeks, with government support to ensure workers still get their wages.
For actual essential businesses like those involved in food processing and distribution, start with guaranteeing paid sick days. The federal government has a sick day benefit program available, but at just $ 450 per week after taxes — less than minimum wage for full- time workers — it’s not enough.
Toronto council voted in November to request the provincial government provide a more robust paid sick day and income support program. Dr. Eileen De Villa, Toronto’s chief medical officer of health, is recommending Queen’s Park provide funding and supports to make sure workers have access to at least 10 paid sick days per year during public health emergencies like this one. But so far, there’s been no action.
Until workers feel like they can take sick days without losing pay or facing repercussions, there’s no reason to think the city’s rate of workplace outbreaks will slow.
The constant COVID message of “just stay home” means nothing when your boss is saying you must come to work, and your paycheque is on the line.