Despite what the union for workers of an Alberta meat-packing plant has tried to do, they were unable to prevent the opening of a local meat-packing plant, Cargill. They had the largest COVID-19 outbreak in North America. There were 921 known cases at the plant that has 2,000 employees. A worker in her 60s died and her husband was later hospitalized with COVID-19.
 
In mid-April, Cargill announced that the plant was temporarily shutting down operations for a couple of weeks. The meatpacking plant, Cargill, supplies 40% of the beef in Canada. It has now announced that they would resume operations with one shift. They also said that operations would resume with added safety measures in place.
 
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer in Alberta said that the Alberta Health Services officials have inspected the facility and that it appears to be safe. However, Thomas Hesse who represents the United Food and Commercial Workers union said the workers are afraid, and they have tried to get a stop-work order from Alberta Occupational Health and Safety. Their efforts have failed despite ongoing negotiations.
 
At the time of this article, the situation had not been resolved. The efforts on the part of the union have not succeeded, as they haven't been able to convince the government or legal authorities to step up to ensure that the plant stays closed due to safety concerns. The union lawyers are looking at new strategies.
 
Despite the company’s desire to resume business as usual, they still need to convince the employees that it is safe to do so. Many of the company employees are reluctant to return to work at the plant due to safety concerns. This isn’t just a problem for Cargill but it appears to be a problem for other businesses that want to resume business as usual.
 
Many of the businesses, such as Cargill, have to act quickly to fix the problem so that employees are comfortable with returning to work. A rally was held at the facility and face masks with the words “Safety First” was embossed on them. Cargill sent out a statement to employees that said any employees who are healthy and eligible to work have been asked to return to work.
 
Health officials have said that the majority of the plant's employees are healthy and those who were sick have recovered. Cargill said that they are grateful to their workers for their dedication and resilience as the plant and community walk through this pandemic.
 
The union website reads: "If you are healthy and have been called and cleared to return to work, you should report to your supervisor. "If you don't think it is safe to work, then don't."
 
According to a union survey conducted on 600 workers, 80% said that they do not want the plant to reopen and 85% reported that they are afraid to go back to work at the plant despite its reassurance of being safe.

The Canadian Education Minister has canceled in-person classes for the remainder of the school year. School officials have been trying to figure out a way to safely open, in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta school leaders have started to envision how classes might look when students are permitted to return.
 
Education Minister, Adriana LaGrange sent a letter to the school boards to confirm that in-person classes will be canceled for the 2019-20 school year. They are making a plan to help get students back to school. Teachers have a lot of questions about this, as they would like to prepare for what will ultimately be a new way of teaching. They want to know exactly when students will be allowed to return to their school buildings and what type of public health measures will be initiated.
 
Things will look very different than what the students have been used to before they classes in Mark. Premier Jason Kenney said that there is the possibility of bringing classes back as early as the first week in September. There is no indication as to whether or not the government will attempt to have the students make up for a lost time.
 
It is assumed that when the classes do resume that the students will still need to be separated. Grades K-12 is planned for Stage 2 reopening based on the provincial government's COVID-19 plan. The date that classes may resume will be based on the rate of new infections, intensive care unit cases of COVID-19, and hospitalizations.
 
Restaurants, businesses, and campgrounds are all expected to reopen with restrictions. It is reasonable that schools would be required to also adhere to certain restrictions no matter when they are allowed to resume classes.
 
A group of Red Deer Public School principals and vice-principals have come together to determine how students can safely resume classes when Alberta’s chief medical officer of health has said that it is ok to resume in-person classes again.
 
Superintendent Stu Henry admits that if social distancing is still in place when classes resume, it will have serious implications for the schools. It may change the way classrooms are arranged, staffing, student transport, and the way that classes will be taught. Classes being taught in the morning and the afternoon seem to be an option under consideration.
 
Red Deer might follow the lead of Quebec by keeping juniors and seniors at home, where they are doing distance learning. This would allow them to spread elementary students out across several school buildings throughout the city.
 
This would likely result in the need for more buses to transport the students. However, no one knows for sure what recess would be like if they were not allowed to open up playgrounds or gyms.
 
The following school year is sure to be impacted if staff members become ill. All are hoping for a miracle but in the meantime, no in-person classes will resume for the current school year.