Prince Rupert Teachers' Union to offer membership N95 masks for use

The Union which represents public school teachers in the Prince Rupert area is looking to provide for its own masks for use by SD52 teachers, noting of their plans to offer the N95 version of respiratory mask for those in the PTDTU membership.

In a recent update from the PRDTU website, the union outlines how the program will work:

The PRDTU will soon receive a shipment of N95-type masks (also known as “respirators”) for distribution to members who want to use them. These masks were donated to the BCTF by a mask manufacturer. 

Please look for an email from the PRDTU with information on how to request some of these masks. Masks will be shared between members who request them and the PRDTU is expecting about 300 masks.

The full background to their plans can be reviewed here.

The use of the higher end masks is one of a number of areas where the PRDTU has differed with Ministry of Education and SD52 guidance on the return to school, making note of their concerns earlier this month.

The list at that time included a range of suggestions towards the back to school plans, as well as the three key safety measures they were concerned about.  

The version of masks currently in use was one of the three, with the call for better ventilation  and faster access to booster shots of the COVID vaccine for school workers also noted as a priority for the PRDTU.

The masking option noted by Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside
is not one that found much acceptance by the BCFT or locally by the
executive of the PRDTU

Their mid January correspondence was in response to the Back to School planning introduced by both the Ministry and the School District, the union seemingly not that impressed with the face mask recommendation from the Ministry at the time.

More notes on Education in the Northwest can be reviewed here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.