Example
of political games. Elections are coming up. The provincial government
is trying to get people vote for them: so they reveal they had ‘secret
and private’ talks with the Nova Scotia Government and General
Employees Union. Earlier the director of the same union denied the
government claims.
In comes the minister of Health, Jane Purves, who provides documents proving that there were talks. In a hastily arranged press conference (packed!) the director of the union explained why she denied the claim:
they did have private discussions, however, they were supposed to be
revealed for after the elections. Apparantly government and union had
reached an agreement on binding arbitration for striking home-care
workers. To avoid embarrassing the government it was decided not to
mention the discussion in public. Says the director of NSGGEU:
“So I kept quiet. I kept my
end of the bargain. The premier and Jane Purves did not. I will not be
able to work with Jane Purves”
The minister, of course, acknowledged that thanks to the government, the director of the union now has a credibility problem.
“I understand that Joan is
very unhappy with me. And that may be so that she has no desire to work
with me, but I would have no problem working with her.”
To be honest, I think it’s up to the voters to decide who’s going to work together with the union.