Decision Ruling Bill 124 Unconstitutional a Victory for Workers and all Ontarians

“Today, the honourable Justice Markus Koehnen rendered a decision declaring the ironically named Bill 124, the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, unconstitutional, determining that it violated Ontarians’ rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Passed in 2019, the bill imposed a one per cent limit on salary increases, for three years, for a range of public sector workers, including education, health care, and long-term care. The Ford government failed to provide sufficient evidence that the bill was necessary.

Bill 124 targeted fields in which the majority of employees are women, interfered in free and fair collective bargaining, and has had a disastrous impact on the lives of all Ontarians, leading to shortages of health care workers and educators – just when the province needed them most.

Catholic teachers are proud to have been a party to the court challenge, which sees this assault on free and fair collective bargaining struck down, and further indicates that the Ford government must work with unions and workers, including the Association, to determine a remedy for those impacted.

The Ford government abused its power by imposing Bill 124 on workers. Today’s decision is a landmark victory in labour relations history, and a major win for the rights and freedoms of all Ontarians.”

- Barb Dobrowolski, President of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association