If super-mediator Vince Ready cannot get the two sides in the education labour dispute close enough to even mediate, what next?

If both sides remain convinced they have bent as far as they will go and cannot offer any more concessions, what next?

If the BC Teachers’ Federation truly believes its position is just and that the majority of the public stands with it, and if the provincial government believes likewise, what next?

How about binding arbitration?

How about both sides drop their pages and pages of proposals on a table and agree to allow a mutually agreed upon arbitrator to wade through the requests and demands and emerge with a final decision that will end this standstill and allow kids to get back to school?

If either side will not agree to binding arbitration, then there is wavering in a belief it has support and that its stance is justified.

As the latest talks collapsed, the BCTF called on Premier Christy Clark to get involved in the impasse.

The request was odd in that it was Clark, as education minister in  2002, who stripped classroom size and composition from the union’s bargaining rights.

It appears as though the provincial government is not willing to agree to the BCTF’s proposals and it appears as though the teachers’ union has decided to not cave.

Of course, students are the losers in this battle, which is why both sides should agree to binding arbitration and let the chips fall where they may.

— Kamloops This Week