Ontario: The Ford government will appeal against the court’s decision that struck down a contentious bill limiting the wages for public sector workers.
“We are evaluating this decision and our intention is to appeal against it,” the attorney general’s spokesperson said.
Judge Markus Koehnen, in a 80-page ruling on Tuesday afternoon, said bill 124 infringes the right of applicants to establish associations and jointly bargain.
Several unions and workers, who have been affected by the bill, have been fighting against the bill, which came into effect in 2019. Under this bill, there is a provision to increase the salaries of workers by only one per cent per year for three years.
On this, the government says that this bill has been adopted for a limited time so that the loss of the province can be eliminated.
Last September, groups representing thousands of employees associated with the public sector had moved the court against the bill.
These groups had argued that the bill violates a part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that protects meaningful collective bargaining.
But the province argues that the bill does not interfere at all with the ability of groups to bargain for job security, benefits, and seniority.
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario CEO Doris Grinspun said she appealed to Premier Doug Ford not to appeal the ruling.
Interim leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario, John Fraser agreed that the government must not appeal rather work with unions to come to an agreement.