It seems appropriately symbolic that as Labour Day approaches, Vince Ready - the patron saint of labour negotiations in B.C. -finally waded into the teachers' strike Thursday, holding a meeting with negotiators for both sides.
There are certainly a lot of hopes riding on his skills.
While 'back to school' time is usually one of excitement and preparation, this year it's felt more like a doomsday clock ticking down.
Both sides appeared to take the summer off, waiting until September rolled into view before surfacing in the media. That didn't exactly inspire confidence.
Now parents and students will just have to see if Ready can work one of his usual miracles.
Ironically, the two sides aren't that far apart on wages. But the issues keeping
the sides apart - including class size and composition limits - are far more complex and emotional.
For its part, the province has stuck to a strategy of extreme meanness in the dispute. Starving the teachers union into submission appears to be the government's MO - reinforced by the repeated statement that it won't legislate a settlement. The BCTF's own fallback position isn't obvious - except to hope that someone imposes a not-too-terrible settlement before Thanksgiving waddles into sight.
Ready has his work cut out for him. But after decades of pulling off amazing feats in some of B.C.'s toughest labour environments, we know he's up to the task.
Here's hoping for the almost impossible in time for Labour Day, so that kids can get back to class.
