Nova Scotia’s biggest union has sent warning to the government that it will ask the courts to strike down Bill 148.
The wage legislation was proclaimed last week by the provincial Liberals.
It legislates a wage pattern on 75,000 public sector workers, strips the long service award from all new employees retroactive to April 2015 and freezes it for all previous employees to the same date.
READ MORE: Decision to impose wage package on N.S. public workers ‘actions of a snake’: union
The notice of intended action, obtained by Global News, was sent to provincial lawyer Edward Gores on Wednesday.
It says the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union intends to ask the province’s Supreme Court to rule the entire bill unconstitutional.
In its notice, the union argues that by enacting and then proclaiming Bill 148, the government violated the union members’ rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression.
The notice of action argues that Bill 148 “tilted the balance of power impermissibly in the favour of the employer” and “substantially interfered with collective bargaining” in violation of the charter.
Since the act was introduced in December 2015, unions across Nova Scotia have been promising legal action if the bill was ever proclaimed. In an apparent attempt to head off those legal challenges, the government said it would ask the courts to test the constitutionality of the bill. But as Global News first reported last week, the government is only asking for a partial review.
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- ‘Shock and disbelief’ after Manitoba school trustee’s Indigenous comments
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
READ MORE: NSGEU turns up heat over loss of retirement bonus for Nova Scotia’s public sector
In an interview, NSGEU president Jason MacLean said the partial review is why his union is taking the government to court now, rather than waiting for the outcome of the constitutional test.
He called on MLAs to “pressure” Premier Stephen McNeil to expand the constitutional test to the entire bill. MacLean said that is “an expedited process” that would avoid millions in legal costs for the government.
“I do believe it’s unconstitutional and out of fairness sake, Stephen McNeil needs to reverse this or he’s going to cost taxpayers millions of dollars,” he said.
READ MORE: Conciliation talks between NSGEU and Nova Scotia fail, proceeding to arbitration
In a response, a government spokesperson said: “It is their right to initiate action. We are confident in the legislation. Our position will be advanced in court.”
Bill 148 also sets out conditions around the long service award that would leave civil servants with less money than if they had accepted the deal in a contract vote. MacLean said that shows the government is being “punitive.”
“They’re imposing a worse deal than they originally brought to the table,” he said. “Because we didn’t take it, they’re being punitive.”
In the contract the government froze the long service award retroactive to 2015 but agreed to pay it out based on an employee’s salary at retirement. Bill 148 stipulates that the pay-out will be based on the salary as of April 1, 2015.
The union said it filed the challenge separately from the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour and other unions because its civil servants bargaining unit is the only one that doesn’t have the right to strike — which changes the legal arguments against the bill.
Comments