Bill 124 Broadens the Anti-Social Offensive Against the Public Sector and Its Workers
The Ontario PC government tabled Bill 124 on June 5.
Known
both as Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future
Generations Act, 2019 and An Act to implement moderation
measures in respect of compensation in Ontario's public
sector, the act takes aim at the public sector and its
employees.
Bill 124 seeks to impose government dictated
"moderation"
periods of three years for non-union and unionized employees of
the Ontario government and its Crown agencies as well as the
broader public sector and a whole range of other organizations.
In addition to public servants employed directly by the
government, the moderation periods apply to sectors such as K-12
education, post-secondary education, health care including
long-term care homes, the Ornge air ambulance service, Children's
Aid, Ontario Provincial Police, Ontario Power Generation and any
other "authority, board, commission, corporation, office or
organization of persons that is not-for-profit or received at
least $1,000,000 in funding from the Government of Ontario in
2018."
The moderation period does not apply to a municipality,
a
local board as defined by the Municipal Act, 2001, any
entities appointed by or under the authority of a municipality,
or an organization that operates for profit. The bill would
permit the government to also exclude employees or classes of
employees by regulation.
The PC majority government says once Bill 124 becomes
law it
will take effect back to the day of its tabling, June 5. This
means any collective agreements negotiated or arbitration awards
issued after June 5 would be subject to the act's dictate and
provisions, and the approval of the President of the Treasury
Board. If an employee group is negotiating a collective agreement
as of June 5, the moderation period will begin the date the
agreement begins and last for three years.
Moderation Period Imposes Limitations on Salary
Increases
During the moderation period "salary increases are
limited to
one per cent for each 12-month period of the moderation period."
The limit of one per cent per year also applies to "existing
compensation entitlements and new compensation entitlements."
Compensation is broadly defined to include "anything paid or
provided, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of an
employee, and includes salary, benefits, perquisites and all
forms of non-discretionary and discretionary payments."
 To enforce this limit on
investments in public services and
social programs the government has given the President of the
Treasury Board extraordinary powers to decide if a collective
agreement or arbitrated award fits the government's parameters.
If the Minister decides it is not consistent with the act then
the agreement or award becomes null and void. A union
representing workers or an employer may appeal the President's
decision but the act explicitly states that the President has the
sole discretion to decide.
The legislation gives the government broad ability to
obtain
any and all personal information it demands from an employer on
its employees or operations "that the Management Board of Cabinet
considers appropriate for the purpose of ensuring compliance with
this Act."
The authority to obtain personal information under Bill
124 is
deemed to be in compliance with the Freedom of Information
Act and the Protection of Privacy Act. The government
seeks to exempt itself from provisions of those two acts, which
require that an individual be informed their personal information
has been requested and provided. The section "No notice to
individual required" of Bill 124 states: "(4) Subsection 39(2)
of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy
Act and subsection 29(2) of the Municipal Freedom of
Information and Protection of Privacy Act do not apply with
respect to any personal information disclosed or collected under
the authority of a directive."
Measures to Avoid Government Accountability and
to Violate
Rights with Impunity
To shield itself from any accountability for
violating
workers' rights, the government is attempting to limit the
ability of any body below it to slow or stop the application of
the act. Neither the Ontario Labour Relations Board nor an
independent arbitrator would be permitted "to inquire" or make a
decision on whether any provision of the act is constitutionally
valid or violates the Ontario Human
Rights Code.
 Going further, in an attempt
to prevent the courts from
rendering any verdict on any violation of rights carried out
using the legislation, the bill asserts that no legal action or
"proceeding" can be taken against the Crown or current or former
ministers, agents, appointees and employees or an employer to
whom the act applies, or a current or former director, officer,
or employee to whom the act applies. Having learned from the experience
of the McGuinty/Wynne Liberal
government which faced a court ruling against it for similar
legislation violating collective bargaining rights, the bill goes even
further, seeking to specifically limit any legal action that would
require a
remedy or relief or any other form of damages as a result of the
violation of rights in the act.
In other words, the Ford government clearly knows the
legislation violates rights and is setting out to do so, and has
included within the act measures to ensure no legal recourse is
available for those whose rights have been violated. This amounts
in practice to a form of opting out of the government's legal
duty to be accountable to the people for its actions and violating the
rights of public sector workers with impunity. The
act uses a variation of the fraud of reasonable limits on
people's rights and the notwithstanding clause found within the
Canadian Constitution and its Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 25 - August 31, 2019
Article Link:
Bill 124 Broadens the Anti-Social Offensive Against the Public Sector and Its Workers
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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