EARLIER this year it seemed that this Island was heading for a spring and summer of discontent. Public sector pay groups were up in arms over frozen remuneration, disputed terms and conditions and the alleged unwillingness of government to engage in negotiations.

Now as mid-summer approaches, we appear to be heading into far less troubled waters. The Island’s teachers – the group which came closest to full-blown industrial action – have reached at least a temporary accommodation with ministers and have called off a strike scheduled for today.

It seems that a deal based on the teachers accepting a two-year pay deal coupled with what are seen as important changes to standard working practices has been reached. Details are still being thrashed out, but the threat of action on a scale seldom seen here is in abeyance.

Teachers might, with some justification, claim that their willingness to go to the brink and beyond made all the difference to the course of their dispute – which included shows of strength on the streets that will have shocked Islanders unaccustomed to seeing such scenes. However, even if the threat of a strike led to yesterday’s emergency talks which broke the stalemate, the real lesson to be learned is this – it is always better to talk.

This, moreover, is a lesson that the States would also do well to heed. The firmness of Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur in this and other disputes in this difficult economic climate is generally to be commended. Weak government is the last thing that the Island needs. That said, as a man of sound judgment and manifest ability, Senator Le Sueur must realise that the difference between firmness and intransigence is of the utmost significance. He will also be aware that many people, who have no knowledge of what went on behind closed doors, will wonder why concessions which have now been made could not have been offered at an earlier stage.

In the world of industrial relations, irresistible forces and immovable objects never remain in opposition indefinitely. There is always victory by one side or the other or compromise, which is almost always the best outcome because it leaves no bitter losers or gloating winners.

If the teachers – and other pay groups – and government have mutually understood that a great deal of grief can be saved by compromising at the earliest possible moment, so much the better.