Court Accepts AUPE’s Application for Injunction
Bill 9, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act, officially received Royal Assent on June 28, and yesterday the courts accepted AUPE’s application for an injunction in opposition to the anti-worker legislation.
The Bill will delay third-year wage arbitrations that hundreds of thousands of unionized employees negotiated into legally-binding collective agreements, tossing out the timelines you and other workers were promised.
An injunction, if granted by the court, would allow us to go ahead with wage arbitration as negotiated in good faith by members and employers. The injunction hearing is scheduled for July 29.
Additionally, on June 24, AUPE filed a statement of claim against the UCP in the Court of Queen’s Bench on the grounds that Bill 9 is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
We recognize a decision at the legal level could take time, which is why AUPE members aren’t waiting around. The UCP wasted no time in targeting the frontlines of our province’s workforce, and this is why we’re coming out swinging.
The solidarity has been overwhelming. From information pickets to telephone town halls, AUPE members across sectors have been working hard to fight back against the UCP’s attack on workers, and now more than ever we need to recommit to our cause.
Telephone Town Halls
In our union’s telephone town halls last week, you asked how you can mobilize your worksites. Hitting the streets, making noise and holding signs are some of the most effective first steps we can take to show solidarity with all of our fellow workers affected by Bill 9. Info pickets are a safe, legal way to protest – as long as everyone participates on their non-work time – and since Bill 9 passed, many of you have organized them, starting conversations about what we can do to escalate our response to the government.
Information Pickets
We encourage you to join your fellow members and allies in tomorrow’s information pickets, organized by the health care workers at Foothills Medical Care Centre in Calgary, Two Hills Health Centre and Lacombe Hospital & Care Centre. Several other information pickets are planned throughout July. Visit aupe.org/fightback as times and locations are posted. We also encourage you to email the pre-written letter, as-is or edited, to the Finance Minister and Labour Minister, and hold them to their party’s promises.
You are the driving force of AUPE. Together you know what you need to protect yourselves, and AUPE’s leadership is here to support you in your democratic decision making processes. If you have any ideas for action you’d like to take in opposition to Bill 9, contact organizing at 1-800-232-7284 or organizing@aupe.org - the most important thing is to know the facts before you act.