Nova Scotia unions prevail in court battle with province

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has ruled in favour of public sector workers in regards to Bill 148.

After a ten-year battle, unions in Nova Scotia won big in court Friday.

In 2015, the Liberal government, led by Stephen McNeil, passed Bill 148 which imposed a two-year wage freeze on public servants and removed the public service award from their collective agreement.

“That was taking away our bargaining rights and under the charter of frights and freedoms we have the right to bargain. He was definitely taking away the rights of workers,” says Sandra Mullen, president of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU). “We have everyone in that mix – civil servants, teachers, nurses.”

A number of unions joined forces and took the matter to court.

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruled Friday that the government did in fact violate the rights of public sector workers.

“This is groundbreaking today as a victory because the justice has ruled in our favour citing that in fact it did affect bargaining rights and so, not only is it unconstitutional, but that we need to see remedy,” says Mullen.

During his campaign, current premier Tim Houston promised to repeal Bill 148, something he didn’t do. Instead, he continued the fight in the courts.

The court has given the province one-year to come to some type of agreement with the unions as well as pay the court fees for the proceedings.

The province can still appeal the decision.

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