In Ontario, thousands of public servants recently received the highest wage increase in over a decade after a court ruled that a law capping wage increases was unconstitutional. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) negotiated a 9.5 percent increase over the next three years for 30,000 of its members, including a 1 percent increase for each year that was previously agreed upon. Union President JP Hornick expressed the importance of worker power and solidarity in achieving this victory and emphasized their commitment to continuing the fight in future bargaining rounds.
The negotiations began after a court found Bill 124 to be unconstitutional. This law, put in place in 2019, restricted salary increases for public employees to 1 percent each year for three years. The Ontario government appealed this decision, arguing that the court made “fundamental legal errors” and incorrectly applied the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the court stated that the law interferes with workers’ rights to collective bargaining, freedom, and rights to strike, and that the inability to achieve particular outcomes constitutes a substantial interference with collective bargaining.
The Ontario government argued that Bill 124 was necessary to help reduce the deficit. Despite the government’s appeal, the OPSEU agreement also includes a new dispute resolution process to address wage disparities for other job classifications. Additionally, this increase due to the law’s ruling on its unconstitutionality is not unique, as Ontario nurses also negotiated increased pay after a similar verdict.