Press Release: From MB Federation of Labour
Partnership to Defend Public Services Will Continue to Fight the Pallister Government’s Attacks on Public Sector Workers
(July 20, 2018)
Manitoba’s labour movement remains committed to standing up for our province’s dedicated public sector workers despite today’s court ruling in the injunction case brought by the Partnership to Defend Public Services (PDPS), announced Kevin Rebeck, President of the Manitoba Federation of Labour.
“While winning this injunction would have meant an immediate victory for working families in our province, we knew all along that courts rarely grant injunctions in these types of cases,” said Rebeck. “But we have been clear all along that we will never back down when it comes to making sure the public services we count on are protected, and that the workers who deliver them are respected.”
A successful injunction exempting parties from legislation before the case goes to trial is hard to come by, as the courts set a very high bar and do not grant these types of injunctions very often.
Rebeck added that the PDPS’ main legal challenge on the constitutionality of the Pallister government’s wage freeze legislation has yet to be heard.
“While we certainly would have preferred to win this injunction to stop this law’s harmful impacts on bargaining in Manitoba right away, today’s ruling doesn’t mean that the courts have ruled on the constitutionality of the law,” said Rebeck. “We remain confident and we look forward to presenting our full constitutional challenge to the Court of Queen’s Bench in the coming months. We will continue to fight back against the Pallister government’s cuts and attacks on services on behalf of Manitoba’s 120,000 public sector workers.”
Rebeck stressed that moving forward, Manitoba’s labour movement looks forward to the full Charter challenge case being heard on an expedited basis by the courts.