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Re: Question



Everyone has the right to refuse unsafe work, YouTube says so : )


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n155U2QN-70




From: James Fleming <james_fleming@sfu.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2021 7:55 PM
To: academic-discussion@sfu.ca
Cc: SFUFA Office
Subject: Question
 

Dear all,


The announcements yesterday from Bonnie Henry, and Joy Johnson, have changed our situation. I am left wondering:


If in-person teaching remains very dangerous--why are we returning to in-person teaching?


I understand that masks mitigate the danger. But they also mitigate the teaching. More to the point: isn't masking a half-measure? Why get together if we don't have to?


I understand that for some disciplines-- e.g., those involving hands-on lab training-- in-person instruction restores benefits that were lost online. Perhaps, for these disciplines, the benefit is worth the risk.


What about faculty members in disciplines, like mine, where there is rarely a hands-on component?


Shouldn't we be able to decline work that the university itself has just declared unsafe?


JD Fleming

English