When Premier Doug Ford’s government introduced Bill 124’s unconstitutional wage caps on public sector workers, the Society pledged to fight on all fronts available to us, including the courts. The union announced its participation in a constitutional challenge last fall coordinated by the Ontario Federal of Labour (OFL) and now has delivered an application of its own.
On March 31, the Society delivered to the Ontario government a Notice of Application that kicks off an additional constitutional challenge to Bill 124 on behalf of members at Ontario Power Generation, Ontario Energy Board and Independent Electricity System Operator. The Notice of Application will be formally filed when Ontario courts resume full operations after COVID-19 emergency measures are lifted.
This application was completed in collaboration with the Power Workers’ Union, as that union has also filed an application on behalf of their members in the energy sector. The Society expects to continue to work with the PWU in lead up to a hearing in Ontario Superior Court.
The Society has also requested that this energy sector application be consolidated with the OFL’s application, which was filed on March 3, 2020 and includes the Society on behalf of members at Legal Aid Ontario.
As the Superior Court has currently suspended its regular operations due to COVID-19 and is only hearing urgent matters, the hearing date for these constitutional challenges to Bill 124 has not yet been set, and the timeframe for these challenges is currently unknown.
