A judge has delivered a blow to the provincial government by granting the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees an injunction against Bill 9, which delayed arbitration talks for thousands of workers..
The ruling by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin suspends the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act, which postponed wage talks until Oct. 30. Macklin’s ruling means arbitration for 65,000 AUPE members can now continue.
“A member of the public expects, and is entitled to expect, that an agreement reached with the government will be honoured,” Macklin wrote in a decision released late Tuesday afternoon.
“It is in the long-term public interest for the public to see that its government cannot unilaterally change its contractual obligations through legislation that may interfere with Charter rights.”
The decision came one day after lawyers for the AUPE requested the injunction in an Edmonton courtroom.
“We fought for the rights of workers and we won,” AUPE president Guy Smith said in a news release. “The judge agreed with us that the government cannot arrogantly deny our collective bargaining rights.”
The law passed last month after one week of debate. The United Conservative Party government has argued the delay was necessary to get a picture of Alberta’s finances before committing to any wage increases.
The government is awaiting a report from a panel chaired by former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice MacKinnon, which is due on August 15.
The injunction will allow the resumption of wage arbitration talks for three collective agreements affecting 65,000 AUPE members who work for Alberta Health Services or the provincial government.
The workers agreed to a three-year contract with wage freezes in the first two years, with the understanding that wage talks would be reopened in the final year. The agreement also guaranteed the workers job security until March 30, 2020.
Under the contract, the wage issue was to be decided by an arbitrator by June 30. But Bill 9 put that process on hold until the end of October.
The arbitration panel on the AUPE contracts had set aside hearing dates from Aug. 7-10 in case the injunction was granted.