As MPPs debate back-to-work legislation to keep power workers from zapping Ontario’s electricity system, Premier Doug Ford is not ruling out eventually designating them an essential service.“We haven’t crossed that bridge yet. Would we rule it out? We wouldn’t rule anything out,” the premier said Tuesday at Amazon headquarters where the U.S. company announced 600 jobs for the province.Making the workers essential would forbid them from ever striking. Their contracts would instead be settled through arbitration, as is done with police, emergency services and Toronto Transit Commission employees.“The most important thing is get the OPG workers back on the job,” Ford said of the 6,000 Ontario Power Generation employees who are members of the Power Workers’ Union.“We can’t afford to have any power outages, any power blackouts or brownouts across the province,” the premier told reporters.“It’ll be an absolute catastrophe,” he said, criticizing NDP Leader Andrea Horwath for not expediting Progressive Conservative legislation that would end the job action.Read more: Tories introduce legislation to block strike by power workersNDP vows to stall Ford government legislation to block hydro strike“I heard Andrea Horwath saying give them more time. I’ve given them (since) March to come up with a solution between the front-line people and management. They control 50 per cent of the power here in Ontario.”With the bill expected to pass by Thursday, Ford said he was hopeful things get back to normal by Friday.Energy Minister Greg Rickford, noting the government has moved quickly to end the first such job action since 1985, praised the unionized workers for behaving so responsibly in the dispute.“When 50 per cent of the Ontario’s hydro supply is at stake, we take the issue very seriously,” said Rickford.“We appreciate the Power Workers’ Union. They ...
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