The strike at York University is a tragedy that threatens that institution.
How many parents are going to encourage their children to attend York after this disaster? Why would a graduate student want to attend a place with its record of labour disruptions? Why would a star research academic want to work in a place where their career will suffer multiple interruptions?
It will take a significant amount of work to fix the perceptions of the place after this strike concludes.
There are calls for the government to call the Legislature back and order the parties to arbitration.
But is now the time to do that?
First, the government has a legal obligation to allow collective bargaining to proceed.
A recent Supreme Court ruling restricts the right of parliaments to intervene in collective bargaining except in specific and rare cases: "The imposition of compulsory arbitration in cases where the parties do not reach agreement is generally contrary to the principle of voluntary collective bargaining and is only admissible (in) cases of essential services, administration of the State, clear deadlock, and national crisis.”
This dubious ruling is part of a recent series of judicial decisions reading a right to collective bargaining into the Charter's “Freedom of Association” clause. And it handcuffs the government from acting in the public will, or in the best interests of the parties themselves.
Instead, the government must undertake a lengthy dance for the Court's amusement, proving that the table is deadlocked.
That requires the appointment of a mediator to a situation in which both sides appear to have lost the confidence of those they claim to represent.
The second challenge, which will become painfully obvious in the days ahead, is the ability to actually gain passage of back-to-work legislation.
In the recent TTC strike, the NDP leadership sniffed the wind, saw that public opinion was lined up firmly against the union, and allowed back-to-work legislation to pass immediately.
This time, the same type of leniency is not on.
The reason is the Ontario New Democratic Party is current undertaking the most low-profile leadership contest in the history of Western democracy. And the votes for that leadership are apportioned so that 75% go to the membership and 25% to affiliated trade unions.
The perceived front-runner, Peter Tabuns, is battling his union-busting record as Greenpeace executive director, and cannot be isolated in allowing back-to-work legislation.
His opponents, seeing this as an opportunity to roll up the left against the party establishment backing Tabuns, will compete to take the most pro-union position possible.
As a result, each of the four leadership candidates will compete to be the most against back-to-work legislation.
Not only will that mean failure for the government to secure the unanimous consent of the Legislature to dispense with debate of the legislation, but a potential filibuster that could extend the debate far beyond a few days.
The only force that will dislodge that filibuster will be public opinion, and that will only build as the loss of the school year looms large.
Calling the Legislature back before the courts and the NDP have exacted their pound of flesh would do nothing to help the students, because the legislation would take ages to actually get through as a result.
Meanwhile, negotiations would halt at the table, as they always do when back-to-work legislation is in play.
It is better to take a crack at mediation, hope for the best, meet the Supreme Court's standard and increase the pressure on the NDP to allow the bill to pass.
