The Honourable Justice Ann E. Smith of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ruled that Bill 148, the Public Services Sustainability Act, is unconstitutional. Workers are demanding that Tim Houston follow through on his election promise and publicly commit there will be no government appeal to this ruling.
“SEIU Local 2 welcomes the court’s decision finding Bill 148 unconstitutional, affirming that government interference in free and fair collective bargaining violates workers’ rights,” said Burdina Gale, a Child and Youth Care Worker for the Tri-County Regional Centre for Education and a member of the SEIU Local 2 Executive Board.
“This ruling reinforces the importance of protecting collective bargaining and respecting workers under the law. We remain committed to standing up for fair negotiations and dignity for workers across Nova Scotia.”
Ruling
In her ruling Justice Smith found:
“[…] in removing wages from the items up for negotiation, the Act materially undermined the ability of the Applicant Unions to effectively bargain for their members.”
“It is clear to this Court that the removal of the long service awards, along with the wage restraint caps imposed by the Act, had a hugely negative impact on the bargaining power of the Applicant Unions, and thereby their ability to meaningfully negotiate on behalf of their members.”
“Bill 148 substantially interfered with the ability of the Applicant Unions to exert meaningful influence over important working conditions through a process of good faith collective bargaining.”
“Bill 148 removed the Applicant Unions’ leverage on monetary items and thereby upset the balance of power between the parties and negated the ability of the Unions to engage in meaningful bargaining.”
“The evidence shows, and I find that Bill 148 did not respect the principle of the duty to consult and negotiate in good faith.”
By infringing on the Charter rights of workers to full, free, and fair collective bargaining, workers lost out on wages and benefits that should rightfully be theirs.
Houston should commit to allow decision to stand
This started with Stephen McNeil’s Liberal Party, and it needs to end with Tim Houston. The government’s sole focus should now be to make amends for how they treated public sector workers.
In 2021, when campaigning for workers’ votes, Tim Houston agreed that this law needed to be made null and void, but he failed to repeal it. Now, with the Legislature sitting, he can publicly commit there will be no appeal from the floor of the House.
There must be no question that this stain on the history of workers’ rights in Nova Scotia is behind us, and that the workers harmed by Bill 148 will get the justice they deserve.
Next steps
While this is a resounding victory for workers’ rights, the court has left it to the parties (the Unions and the Provincial Government) to negotiate a remedy. The government could choose to appeal Smith’s decision which could delay talks about a remedy.
We will keep members up to date on how the matter proceeds.
