The essential question

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ABOVE THE FOLD

WE CALLED IT! STRIKE OUT — The Ford government is taking the bold step of pre-emptively drafting back-to-work legislation to avoid a strike by 55,000 education workers.

CUPE — the union representing early childhood educators, custodians, librarians, secretaries and other support staff — gave the requisite five-day notice of job action that would have started Friday.

Then, the government and union sat down for an unscheduled bargaining session on Sunday, where the PCs laid out a “final” four-year offer that the union says felt like an “ultimatum.”

“We went to the meeting optimistic” but the government “had no intention of negotiating fairly” as the bill was already written, said LAURA WALTON, president of the Ontario School Board Council of Unions unit.

On the flip side, Education Minister STEPHEN LECCE is calling his offer “more generous.”

That includes a 2.5 per cent raise for workers earning less than $43,000 (previously it was 2 per cent for folks making less than $4…