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And there's the problem.
I'm a huge supporter of teachers. I think, and its obvious, that educating kids isn't an expense, its an investment. Why do we pay for public education? Because we want everyone to have access to it.
I also think, as a group they can be the most difficult to deal with. I disagree with a lot of their stances and positions. I for one support essential service legislation. Take strikes off the board-not because I dislike teachers, but because I view education as an investment. An important one.
It's obvious that the teachers are looking forward to an NDP government. They signed a 1 year contract to that effect. Effectively saying, "fuck it, we'll deal with your replacement"
So what will the NDP do?
We all know that a lot of public sector jobs have pay scales that are not matched privately, on average. That offends me. You have jobs that are unmatched in terms of security(relatively). I think the pay scales should be slightly lower than private sector, with great benefit packages and the security should be worth something. That's me.
So, what will appease the teachers? 1%? 2%? If the NDP says no, they have the problem of working against their base. Then, when all the other contracts roll through...you gave the teachers 1%...so obviously you can give 1% to them all.
Right now, we don't have money. We can do one of two things: go much much worse, or ride it out. I don't think we're going to hit a solid budget, with an actual surplus for a few more years. If we start acting like that is not our reality, then we can easily be in the $1 billion deficit area.
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