Why getting a drink and a doctor may soon be easier: Cohn
(The Star Theatre)

Need a drink? Or a doctor?Fear not. Ontario’s Liberal government is pulling out all the stops to prevent any work stoppages from breaching the labour peace.That means letting public sector workers have their way on pay these days.Teachers came first, in February, months before their contracts were due to expire. Next came OPSEU workers, well in advance of their deadline. Then supervisory staff. The LCBO is in the on-deck circle with a weekend strike deadline, and doctors are next up after swearing off any job actions during a new round of negotiations.It’s not so much pattern bargaining as pattern settling — a pattern corresponding to the election calendar as Premier Kathleen Wynne braces for the next campaign less than a year away.What price labour peace? Consider it the cost of politics — and economics.The political calculus is that Wynne is making the most of rising revenues to bankroll the latest settlements.But there’s also an economic calculation at play, because those workers cashing in now are just catching up after being frozen out during recent years of budget deficits and austerity.There’s a good argument, in good times, for giving those workers their due after asking them to sacrifice during tough times. Ontario has been leading the country and much of the industrialized world in economic growth recently, and cascading tax revenues have brought the budget back into balance — with fiscal room to spare for pent-up payroll demands.But there’s no question the government has topped up its generosity with alacrity: It keeps making the first move with pre-emptive and utterly unexpected offers that union leaders couldn’t refuse.The more delicate dance centres on Ontario’s most powerful non-unionized workers’ movement — the Ontario Medical Association. After years of sniping, the OMA and the government have finally reached an entente.Or more precisely, another one — aft ...