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Poll: What is your opinion about the federal government workers going on strike this week? Based on this article: from The Globe and Mail. Options: I support the federal government workers I oppose the federal government workers strike and believe that the employees should return to work I understand the concerns of both the federal government employees and taxpayers, and I hope that a resolution can be reached quickly to minimize the impact on everyone involved Other

New Strike. More than 2,000 GO Transit workers are set to go on strike starting Monday after voting to reject Metrolinx’s latest offer, the union representing the workers says. Details: https://globalnews.ca/news/9254184/go-transit-wokers-strike/

Originally on The Globe and Mail however under a paywall. This is from the website CP24 which can be copied and pasted. In The Globe and Mail article some legal experts were arguing that this bill is unprecedented. MPPs in Ontario are at Queen’s Park extra early this morning in an effort to push through anti-strike legislation that could stop Ontario’s 55,000 education workers from walking off the job on Friday. The legislature met at 5 a.m. today for the second reading of the “Keeping Students in Schools Act,” which aims to impose a four-year contract on education workers and bar them from striking. The provincial government is aiming to get this legislation passed before Friday’s planned strike. Lecce introduced the legislation Monday afternoon after an emergency mediated session the day before between CUPE, the province, a mediator and school board representatives failed to yield a deal. Despite the possible legislation, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents custodians, librarians, early childhood educators, education assistants, and administrative staff at Ontario’s English and French public and Catholic boards, says its members will still walk off the job on Friday for a one-day protest. Both the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board said they will be closed to in-person learning on Friday if the walkout goes ahead as planned. The English public and Catholic boards in Durham also plan to do the same. Ontario’s education workers have been without a collective agreement since Aug. 31 and despite several rounds of talks, a new one has yet to be negotiated. Among other things, CUPE wants a yearly wage increase of $3.25/hour (11.7 per cent), early childhood educators in every kindergarten class, five additional paid days before the start of the school year, 30 minutes of paid daily prep time, an increase in overtime pay, and a $100 million investment in new job creation. The Ford government’s latest offer, proposed at an emergency mediated session Sunday afternoon, is a four-year deal that includes a 2.5 per cent annual raise for workers who make under $43,000, and a 1.5 per cent yearly wage increase for those who make more. This is up from their initial offer of annual increases of a two per cent raise for workers who make less than $40,000 and a 1.25 per cent raise otherwise. In early October, CUPE announced its members had voted 96.5 per cent in favour of walking off the job if a contract agreement could not be reached with the provincial government. The union then asked the Ontario Ministry of Labour to grant what is known as a no-board report, which means that a board of conciliation will not be appointed. That go-ahead, which allowed the workers to legally walk off the job in 17 days (Nov. 3), was given on Oct. 17. Five days notice must be given before the union can go on strike. Last week, mediated negotiations began between the two sides, but broke down after just two days. All five of Ontario’s key education unions are currently in the midst of bargaining with the province after their contracts expired on Aug. 31. https://www.cp24.com/mobile/news/ontario-legislature-meeting-for-early-morning-anti-strike-legislation-debate-1.6133465

Should our gov't be able to pass back-to-work legislation? The whole idea behind union / company agreements is one that allows either party to take a stand when being treated unfairly - primarily in terms of safety, compensation, or job security. In either case - by strike or by lockout - work stoppages are a true indicator that something is wrong with the status quo and should be allowed to play out in natural order. An intervention that expedites this process does nothing of value for either party, likely only conveniences a third party, and is prone to create a larger divide moving forward. Not to mention that a government that "tells" people what to do versus a government that "is told" what to do by its people turns a democracy into an oligarchy. - Is that the type of government we want in Canada? - I think not! What does everybody else think?