It has often been said that no one wins a strike. Union workers never make up for the pay they lose when out on the picket line, management cannot do business, and both sides lose good working relationships and even friendships. Then there is the collateral damage.
Assuming the 11th hour burst of sanity continues to prevail regarding the strike by CUPE’s education workers, and some sort of contract is achieved without either side (meaning both sides) taking the nuclear option – the “notwithstanding” clause on the province’s part, a general strike on the union’s part – this may be one of the rare and welcome occasions when all sides win.
There are more than two sides in this labour dispute. There always are. In this case, that “third side” includes a lot of school children.
These are kids who have had their short lives disrupted for two years of COVID – at least one lockdown so strict it amounted to house arrest, when they were not only banned from schools and recreation centres, but even parks and playgrounds; not knowing if they would ever see their friends, classmates and teachers again; beloved relatives succumbing to a deadly illness, without any opportunity to visit them one last time or mourn with the rest of the family at a funeral; families worried about job layoffs and business closures (no matter how careful parents are, kids always know); and struggling with the frustration of trying to learn lessons via a computer system that came with a few too many bugs for comfort.
The whole mess was so very unfair to them, and also to their parents, although decisions were made with the best of intentions, to protect everyone from a new disease no one knew much about. When schools and most daycare centres were closed, a lot of parents ended up leaving their jobs or temporarily shutting down their businesses to be home with their kids. There were no other options, especially for single parents with no extended family nearby.
While most of us agree with the province’s position on keeping kids in the classrooms, we also acknowledge that education workers are, in many ways, the unsung heroes of the education system – not just for their actions during COVID, when they went above and beyond to keep schools safe for our kids, but for the work they have always done in the schools. However, it was their work on the front lines during COVID that opened a lot of eyes. These people are important to the safe and efficient operation of schools. Essential workers? Indeed.
A lot of eyes got opened during COVID about who are “essential workers.” It was not necessarily the people with 18 letters after their name and important-sounding titles. A good argument could be made for the people who handed us our morning coffee at the drive-thru every day during COVID, the local retailers who figured out new ways to help their customers, and even the musicians who held front-lawn and balcony concerts for their neighbours.
Bravo to the businesses that changed their operations so they could produce supplies like hand sanitizer that were in woefully short supply, to the folks who figured out how to use the 3-D printer to make medical equipment, to the people who kept going to work at our nursing homes and hospitals every day. And bravo to the cashiers, the daycare staff, custodians and the many workers who demonstrated both courage and determination throughout the pandemic. And bravo to the government officials who made decisions that were often unpopular, but aimed at keeping us and our economy alive.
They have all earned the right to be treated as individuals worthy of respect during contract negotiations. As long as both the active players – union and government – keep that in mind, the families who are affected by their decisions will get the respect they, too, deserve.
One can only hope the respect earned during the pandemic translates into ongoing courtesy and fairness in contract negotiations, business deals and daily encounters.
