Archive

EDITORIAL: Meanwhile, a pox on both sides

February 6, 2020   ·   0 Comments

ONE POINT THAT HAS BECOME increasingly clear is that the ever-increasing strike actions by Ontario’s four teachers’ unions is producing no winners but too many losers in the students and their parents.

The position being taken by the Ford government is that it has been alone in advancing some compromises while the unions have been intractable, sticking to wage demands that would cost the taxpayers billions of dollars.

The unions’ response has been that the real problem lies in the fact the government imposed a 1 per cent wage cap and made billions of dollars in cuts before the negotiations began, so backing off on only some of the cuts was hardly  enough to achieve a fair agreement.

In the circumstances, it will be interesting to see what happens when the Ontario Legislature finally ends a months-long recess on February 18.

Assuming that there will be little or no progress in the on-again, off-again contract talks, the real question is whether the government will introduce back-to-work legislation and what that legislation will entail.

One certainty is that if the government bill imposes a settlement there will be hell to pay, with the opposition New Democrats using every tactic available to them to delay and/or amend the proposed legislation.

On the other hand, if the bill calls for appointment of an arbitrator with a reputation for fairness, the NDP is likely to do little more than complain and the four unions will secretly acknowledge that in the circumstances it was the only viable course of action.

Readers Comments (0)