EDITORIAL Teachers owed more

There’s a big misconception floating around that teachers are rallying and fighting for higher wages.

But, say teachers, their real target is the government’s insistence on removing their right to bargain collectively.

The province, in its back-to-work legislation, the controversial Put Students First Act, would halt, for two years, teachers’ rights to strike or be locked out, eliminating a major bargaining tool.

The new deal the Liberal government is trying to impose would also force teachers to take three unpaid days off, cut sick days in half and end the practice of banking sick days over the course of a career, to be cashed out at retirment.

A two-year wage freeze would also be established.

Premier Dalton McGuinty calls these rights luxuries the province can’t afford.

Labour leaders fear this is just the beginning, that McGuinty and company will use similar tactics when dealing with other public sector employees at contract time.

A teachers’strike should be a last resort. Students must come first and teachers have said disrupting the school year is not part of their plan.

Take their word on it Mr. McGuinty and let them prove you right or wrong. Sit down at the table and negotiate in good faith. You may find they understand Onario’s need to be fiscally prudent. Otherwise an unhappy teacher could make for an unhappy classroom.