After minimally increasing class size for kids in Grades 4-12, Premier Doug Ford has asked the teachers’ unions not to go on strike this September.
Good luck with that, considering Kathleen Wynne and her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, gave them the world and they still continued to threaten labour action.
It’s a common fall ritual in Ontario: the kids go back to school and the teacher unions threaten to strike or work-to-rule.
It doesn’t seem to matter what the political party is. The Ontario government of the day gets the boots put to them during every contract negotiation, with the threat of job action and our kids being used as pawns.
WATCH: War of words about Ontario education funding
I remember calling my parents from the CNE on Labour Day to see if the teachers had settled and if there would school the next day, or could I stay out later — and I’m in my 50s.
I’m not here to crap on unions. If employers were fair, they wouldn’t have a place in modern society. Big unions, however, are big business, and like any business, they need to make money.
They generate revenue by taking a portion of their members’ pay, and with a reduction in the number of teachers comes a reduction in revenue for the union. Every member that is lost or not replaced means less revenue from union dues.
It’s more about that than your kids’ education, and I accept that.
But when is it gonna stop? It’s certainly not perfect, but they do have it pretty good, and better than most.
Is there any political party that can keep these militant teachers’ unions in line?
WATCH: Doug Ford tells Ontario teachers to ‘get with the times’
It would appear not. They bum-threw them like a bagged lunch.
We all want what is best for our kids, but enrolment is stagnant. Teachers are paid well, get summers off and have some of the best benefits and pensions in the country.
Name me another organization that has such control over taxpayer dollars that isn’t elected by the taxpayer?
Imagine how much revenue there would be for education if there wasn’t a middle organization making money off of such divisiveness.
No wonder Ontarians are tired of it.
Scott Thompson is the host of The Scott Thompson Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.