I wish I could take credit for those words but they are those of Benjamin Franklin in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks from 1783. I wonder how true those words are when applied to the recent York University and Ottawa transit strikes. The one ended with back to work legislation and the other under the threat of back tor work legislation.
The Toronto Star has an opinion piece on the Lessons from a Strike in which it notes that Premier McGuinty:
".... has raised the idea of an independent commission that would monitor
bargaining and sound the alarm when a strike jeopardized the school
year. That would give the politicians more objective criteria for the
introduction of back-to-work legislation."
It's an interesting idea and at this early stage raises more questions. For example, what objective criteria will be used by the independent body to decide when, in effect, enough is enough? If this becomes more than an "idea" one would expect and hope that the debate will be brisk.
