Why the TVO strike matters to Ontario workers and Doug Ford's government
CBC
The ongoing strike at Ontario's public broadcaster TVO involves just 74 employees, but the fate of their contract talks could have implications both for Premier Doug Ford's government and among the 1.2 million people in the province's public sector workforce.
The unionized journalists and educators represented by the Canadian Media Guild (CMG) have been on strike since Aug. 21, and recently rejected the below-inflation wage increases in what TVO management called its final offer.
With inflation running high, unions across Canada are looking for contract settlements that at least keep pace with the rising cost of living. That desire is particularly acute among Ontario's public sector, whose wage hikes were capped at one per cent annually for three years under the Ford government's Bill 124.
That legislation "worsened the cost-of-living crisis by holding down workers wages," said Patty Coates, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.
"So we're seeing workers saying enough is enough. They're fed up and they're fighting to even just keep afloat," Coates said in an interview.
This negotiating context means the TVO labour dispute has high stakes that go beyond the broadcaster and its unionized staff.
Brian Lewis, former chief economist in the Ontario Public Service, says contract deals in one part of the public sector have the potential to influence bargaining outcomes elsewhere.
"Precedents can be set and established when you're bargaining with one union," said Lewis, now a senior fellow with the Munk School for Global Affairs and Public Policy.
He says both management and unions often point to recent contract agreements in the sector to support their case for what a fair deal would be, especially on wages. That means there's plenty of attention from the provincial government on the pay increases that are offered to TVO's unionized staff.
"I think it's something, given the government is such a big employer with so many bargaining agents, that might concern them about the precedent that is set for much larger (unions)," Lewis said in an interview.
He foresees many more unionized public sector workers aiming to catch up on wages that have been both constrained under Bill 124 and eroded by inflation.
"The government will want to try to protect the financial bottom line," said Lewis. "The implications are very tough collective bargaining."
The Ford government budgeted $49 million this year for TVO's annual operating grant, its primary source of funding. TVO's mandate comes from Ontario's Ministry of Education and its board reports to Education Minister Stephen Lecce.
A sign that the Ford government is tuned into the potential financial implications of the contract talks: when the opposition NDP asked Lecce in question period if he will "direct TVO management to make a fair bargain with CMG workers," the cabinet minister responsible for the treasury answered.
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