Unions warn over lockdown

Unions and campaign groups warned the government that its second national lockdown in England, which began early last month, would fail without action to tackle unsafe workplaces including schools, colleges and universities.

The Hazards Campaign warned the lockdown would “fail to reduce the transmission rate significantly if it leaves many unsafe workplaces open without adequate enforcement of the controls of risks”. It says these workplaces are infecting workers who transmit the virus to their families and communities, driving up overall infection rates.

Endorsing a call for action to force the government to take a zero-COVID strategy to suppress the virus and save lives and livelihoods, it also called for a publicly-owned test, trace and isolate system with people supported financially to isolate.

The NEU education union pointed to a “shocking” growth of virus cases in secondary schools, with cases 50 times higher on 23 October than at the start of September. Cases were also nine times higher in primary schools.

The union said the lockdown would not work if schools and colleges stayed open without safety measures to prevent the steady rise in cases, which ultimately spreads to the wider community. In contrast, cases among secondary-age pupils fell back during the week of the half-term closure.

The UCU lecturers’ union and NUS students’ union said the government’s failure to instruct universities to move to online learning where possible during the lockdown would put public health at risk.

www.hazardscampaign.org.uk/blog/a-government-void-of-reality-and-enforcers-avoiding-reality

https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/close-schools-national-lockdown

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/11101/UCU-and-NUS-issue-joint-statement-calling-on-universitiesto-move-online-where-possible-for-new-national-lockdown