Hopes that the teachers鈥檚 strike would end soon were dashed when veteran labour mediator Vince Ready left the bargaining table, saying the two sides were too far apart for mediation to take place.
That means the start of classes for public schools is delayed indefinitely, another school year marred by labour strife, with more chaos and uncertainty thrust upon parents and students. It shouldn鈥檛 be this way.
Why does it have to be this bad? Other unions don鈥檛 face the same problems with negotiations. Other provinces don鈥檛 face the same problems reaching deals with teachers.
This strike has gone on far longer than it should, with no end in sight. Let us hope that as part of its resolution, a new, sensible, workable approach to negotiating contracts will emerge. We shouldn鈥檛 have to go through this nonsense again.
Both sides need to agree on long-term change 鈥� and if they don鈥檛, this strike will have been a failure, no matter what the short-term outcome might be.
Is it possible to bring together two sides that are so far apart? Of course it is 鈥� and we don鈥檛 have to go far to find a shining example.
Here is a quote from an editorial we published in March 2007:
鈥淭hey have a history of periods of quiet hostility interrupted by bursts of open warfare, generally intense enough to poison relations for several years.鈥�
We were referring to sa国际传媒 Ferries and the sa国际传媒 Ferry and Marine Workers鈥� Union. Remember them? Remember all of the labour unrest that plagued the ferry system for so many years?
After a bitter ferry strike in 2003, Ready was brought in. He imposed an interim contract, then went to work on one that was much more comprehensive.
That contract, imposed in 2007 with an effective date of Nov. 1, 2003, removed the threat of job action every time new contract talks began. The goal was to create a functional relationship, so the most important change was the introduction of a process to resolve disputes.
If mediation failed, disputes would end with binding arbitration, which gave both sides a strong incentive to bargain in good faith.
The school system and the ferry system are quite different 鈥� but one thing they had in common, until 2007, was over-the-top hostility between management and the unions.
For many years, it seemed that there was no way to end the nastiness at sa国际传媒 Ferries, yet it has disappeared.
Ready鈥檚 solution was due to expire in 2013, but sa国际传媒 Ferries and its union agreed to extend it to Oct. 31, 2015. Just think: The ferries contract covers 12 years 鈥� the time it takes a child to get through the public school system.
The wearying cycle of labour strife in public education is an embarrassment to the province, but worse, it is corrosive to all concerned. What better advertisement do you need for private schools? What family moving into sa国际传媒 would want to send children to public schools, knowing there is little chance that classes will run a full year without labour strife? Why would anyone want to be a teacher in sa国际传媒?
Beyond that, what kind of an example does this foolishness set for students? We tell them that they shouldn鈥檛 wait until just before class starts to do their homework 鈥� yet they see adults doing the same thing, waiting until the last minute to get serious about a deal.
Things can change. Things must change. That change must begin with both sides agreeing that this childish kind of labour relations can鈥檛 continue. Both sides must agree that public education will no longer be dragged down into the muck of politics.
