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Don't get me wrong, i'm not on the side of the union one bit.
I also think gov't has to be very careful when it comes to back to work legislation. Free market negotiating is a cornerstone of labour relations and if the gov't is seen as being too heavy-handed, all the other unions will cry foul and then we'll have much, much bigger problem to deal with. There are a lot of union workers in Canada who the gov't relies on for votes.
I guess it's like dealing with a toddler, you wanna be seen as a the parent/authority figure, but you also don't want to say the wrong thing and cause a full blown tantrum.
So with that in mind, I think the gov't handled this one pretty well. It gave both parties ample opportunity to negotiate at the table, and they couldn't figure it out, so now it's time to come in and force them to shake hands.
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