Legal Challenges to Anti-Worker Legislation
Education unions initiate legal challenge to Protecting a
Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, December
12, 2019.
Unions in Ontario have launched a number of court
challenges to the Ontario government's Protecting a
Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act that was
passed on November 7, 2019. The legislation violates the right of
nearly all public sector workers to negotiate their wages by imposing a
one per cent wage cap on new compensation as well as new provisions for
the government to violate privacy and operate with impunity.[1] Workers affected
by the Act, also known as Bill 124, include those employed by the
provincial government, Crown agencies, school boards, universities and
colleges, hospitals, non-profit long-term care homes, Children's Aid
societies, social service agencies and the electricity and energy
sectors.
On December 12, 2019, all four teacher and
education worker federations were the first to launch challenges. These
were: the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants
franco-ontariens (AEFO), the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario
(ETFO), the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) and
the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF).
Given the content and timing of the legislation,
in the midst of negotiations for the renewal of collective agreements
in the education sector, the unions contend that Bill 124 is a direct
attack on free collective bargaining in the education sector, and a
violation of sections 2(b) and 2(d) of the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which
guarantee freedom of expression and the freedom of association. In
addition, the legislation violates the duty of the Crown to bargain in
good faith.
On December 17, 2019, the Ontario Nurses'
Association (ONA) announced it was launching its own challenge to the
legislation and later that day ten more unions joined, representing
more than 250,000 Ontario workers. The ten were: the Canadian Union of
Public Employees (CUPE); Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Healthcare; United Steelworkers (USW); Public Service Alliance of
Canada (PSAC); the Society of United Professionals (IFPTE) Local 160;
Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE Ontario);
Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown
Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO); the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers (IBEW); the Professional Institute of the Public
Service of Canada (PIPSC), and United Food and Commercial Workers
(UFCW) Local 175. Additional unions and organizations representing
public sector workers in Ontario are expected to join this coordinated
challenge or pursue their own separate legal challenges to Bill 124 in
the coming weeks.
Who Said What
Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL):
"The workers of this province, represented by their unions, will not
allow Bill 124, which erodes the Charter rights of every worker in
Ontario, to stand uncontested," said OFL President Patty Coates. "The
OFL stands in solidarity with the education unions that have recently
launched their challenges to the application of Bill 124 in the
education sector, as we escalate the opposition to this government's
continued attack on the Charter rights of all Ontarians. Together, we
are launching an aggressive campaign to demand the Ford Conservatives
repeal this unconstitutional legislation."
Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA):
"As the union representing registered nurses and health-care
professionals in Ontario, ONA believes Bill 124 discriminates against
nurses and all Ontarians," said ONA President Vicki McKenna, RN. "This
legislation is nothing but a continued attack on the right to free
collective bargaining without interference, as was affirmed in 2015 in
a Supreme Court of Canada ruling. More alarming is the fact that this
legislation could likely deepen the already serious nursing shortage in
Ontario, and have negative effects on health care and public safety."
"This legislation is an attack on nurses and an
attack on women," said McKenna. "By forcing front-line nurses and
health-care professionals to accept compensation increases that fall
below the rate of inflation, this bill will only worsen what is already
a serious nursing shortage in Ontario and worsen hallway health care."
SEIU Healthcare: "For workers
in equity-seeking groups - racialized workers, workers with a
disability, Indigenous, and women workers, collective agreements are
essential to ensuring fairness in the workplace," said Sharleen
Stewart, President of SEIU Healthcare. "For the government to set
limits on bargaining undermines the rights of workers who already face
systemic discrimination across the board."
United Steelworkers (USW) District 6:
"Families in our province have relied on negotiations for decades to
secure their working conditions. This has resulted in the establishment
of the middle class. Middle class families are the backbone of our
province and country, and it is fundamentally wrong to strip them of
their collective bargaining rights," said Marty Warren, Director of USW
District 6. "The USW and its engaged membership are aggressively
pushing back on this one-sided legislation. Justice must be upheld for
Ontario's working families."
AEFO: "The Charter exists to
protect the rights of Canadians, even when those rights are not
convenient for governments," said AEFO President Rémi
Sabourin. "That is the backbone of our democracy."
ETFO: "Bill 124 violates the
democratic rights of all workers in Ontario's public sector," said ETFO
President Sam Hammond. "No employer should be permitted to undermine
employees' fundamental rights without facing the strongest possible
challenge. The Ford government should recognize these rights and repeal
Bill 124 immediately."
OECTA: "Given the timing of
Bill 124, and the haste to get it passed into law, it is clear that it
targets teachers and education workers," said OECTA President Liz
Stuart. "This legislation effectively ties the hands of both the
employer and employee representatives who are currently negotiating
collective agreements. This is unacceptable, and in our view, it is
unconstitutional."
OSSTF: "Governments should not
lightly infringe on the civil rights of their citizens," said OSSTF
President Harvey Bischof. "They should rely on tried and tested
bargaining processes that lead both parties to creativity in the
process, and stability thereafter. There is no current economic or
fiscal crisis that requires such an extraordinary interference in that
process."
CUPE: "This challenge is about
defending workers' rights protected under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms," stated CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn. "When the Ford
Conservatives demand that we must all do our part, instead of targeting
working people the government should be taxing profitable corporations
and the wealthiest in our communities. Charter Rights matter, Human
Rights matter, Workers' Rights matter."
Note
1. For
full information on the legislation see TML
Weekly, August 31, 2019 and TML Weekly November
23, 2019.
This article was published in
Number 1 - January 15, 2020
Article Link:
Legal Challenges to Anti-Worker Legislation
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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