This fall, the MGEU, along with other unions involved in the Partnership to Defend Public Services, has been busy preparing for their court challenge — scheduled to begin November 18, 2019 — of the government’s unconstitutional, heavy-handed wage freeze legislation (Bill 28).
But yesterday, the Pallister government introduced an 11th hour amendment to the Bill — now to be referred to as Bill 2 — which was referenced in their letter to the judge formally requesting an adjournment of the trial.
“The timing of this is outrageous and highly disrespectful to those Manitobans who provide our public services,” MGEU President Michelle Gawronsky said. “This comes two-and-a-half years after they introduced the law, and just a few short weeks before Manitoba’s unions have trial dates set to stand up for our members and their Charter right to collective bargaining.”
In the coming days, the MGEU and its union partners must now review the amendments carefully, and conduct a complete legal analysis.
“A pre-trial hearing was already set to take place today,” said Gawronsky. “Given what’s happened, our legal counsel will be arguing for time to properly assess Bill 2 and its implications. As soon as we have an idea of what this means for our case, we will update our members, so I encourage them to stay tuned.”