Three days after tens of thousands of provincial education workers gave their union – CUPE – an overwhelming strike mandate, Doug Ford’s ”begging” them not to strike, not to ”force” his hand.

Speaking at an unrelated event in Hamilton, the premier was asked if that means he’d legislate them back to work in the event of a stoppage by early childhood educators, custodians and administration staff.

Ford calls the government’s offer of 8% over four-years ”fair.”

As for CUPE’s call for annual increases of 11.7%, he says ”everyone knows that’s not realistic” and promises the government will ”negotiate fairly.”

The two sides are scheduled to be at the bargaining table today and Friday with the union saying those sessions would be key in determining next steps.