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Dear Unifor Members,
Yesterday, Premier Stephen McNeil and his cabinet proclaimed Bill 148 which imposes wage freezes and concessions on thousands of workers across the province, including 4,800 Unifor members, who work health care, long-term care and in government-funded or regulated workplaces.
With this, McNeil and his government have continued their attack on fair and free collective bargaining, despite the most recent election ending in a drastically smaller government that held on to a majority by a mere 136 votes in two ridings, with several other seats squeaking by with tiny wins.
It’s clear that Nova Scotians rejected McNeil’s attack on workers by a vast majority of voters. The mandate he was given was to be responsible, not cruel – to be fair, not to cause further chaos in our public institutions and services.
Unifor will be fighting back, as we have for the past four years with this anti-worker government. Indeed, leading up to the election, mobilization of Unifor members ignited widespread concern for the funding cuts in long-term care facilities and highlighted the lack of respect this government has toward the vulnerable and the hard-working individuals who care for them.
Unifor is now in extensive discussion with our in-house legal team to discuss next steps. Unifor will be fighting back in the courts, in the streets, targeting government representatives, and using every tool at our disposal.
Make no mistake – we will be leaving no stone unturned and no option unused.
Robbing hard-working people of even a cost-of-living wage increase will only have the effect of suppressing economic activity of everyone in the province.
This is about all of us. If public sector workers fall behind, we all fall behind. This is how the economy works. Cuts to the public sector results in suppression in the private sector. As Canada’s largest private-sector union, Unifor has confronted this reality countless times.
We must stand together to restore respect for working Nova Scotians and stand up to McNeil’s underhanded wage suppression law.
In Solidarity,
Lana Payne
Atlantic Regional Director
What does Bill 148 do?
For anyone covered under a public sector collective agreement, Bill 148:
Limits pay increases according to the defined schedule over 5 years: 0%, 0%, 0.1% and 1.5% with an additional 0.5% at the last date of the term. These small increases fall behind basic cost-of-living increases, estimated at about 1% per year in Nova Scotia.
Stops retirement allowance accrual after April 1,2015. This means that someone who retires tomorrow will get the benefit accrued to April 1,2015 and paid at their salary at that date.
In the event of bargaining proceeding to arbitration, an arbitrator is prohibited from granting wage increases beyond what is stated in Bill 148.