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But while most of us would steer clear of nasty battles, politicians often steer into trouble — especially if there’s political gain to be made in an election year.

Consider the Sask. Party government’s eagerness to engage unions on virtually every other union issue.

This was, after all, a government that went to the legal wall — the Supreme Court of Canada — to justify its own essential services legislation that took away the fundamental right to strike. Heck, the CN Rail strike was pretty much over in a week, but that didn’t stop the government here from making rumblings about the potential need for federal government back-to-work legislation.

Since the lockout started more than a month ago, there’s been talk of public safety issues, including the relative safety of a large-scale industrial fuel plant now being operated by management and/or replacement staff. Yet about all we have heard fromLabour Minister Don Morgan was that he sees no grounds for political interference.

In fairness to Morgan, who takes his job seriously, any clear and present threat to public safety would cause him to intervene. As such, perhaps the labour minister is just trying to be an honest arbitrator in this dispute.

But it just might be that there’s some political benefit to the Sask. Party.

Strikes are generally unpopular with the public, who don’t often sympathize with those walking the picket line. That this issue is largely about the union fighting for the kind of pension plan most don’t have doesn’t make Unifor seem all that sympathetic to many.