Manitoba government pushing wage freeze bill through legislature as battle looms

Manitoba public-sector unions said Thursday they will file a court challenge against a proposed law that would freeze their members' wages for two years.

The announcement came as the Progressive Conservative government was working to pass the bill through a final vote, along with about two dozen others, on the last day of the spring legislature sitting.

"We're very disappointed the government's not willing to negotiate at a bargaining table. They're choosing the heavy-handed approach of legislation to get their way," said Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour.

"Their intentions have been very clear, so we're working to make sure that we can launch a legal challenge in the coming weeks."

Premier BrianPallistersaid the wage freeze is needed to bring the deficit under control, and his Progressive Conservative government was elected last year to get the province's finances in order.

"We can't accept billion-dollar deficits any more. It's putting our services at risk,"Pallistersaid.

• Wage freezes coming for Manitoba's public servants, doctors, nurses
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The wage-freeze bill was introduced in March. It proposes that as each public-sector collective agreement expires, a two-year wage freeze be brought in, followed by increases of 0.75 per cent and one per cent in the third and fourth years.

Supreme Court of Canada rulings have said governments have some leeway to circumvent contract talks and impose wages if they first make serious attempts at negotiating. Pallister said his government has met and talked with union leaders, but Rebeck said the meetings were few and unproductive.

Tuition increase legislation to be held over until fall

The legislature was expected to sit late into the night Thursday for final votes on the wage bill and other proposed laws.

One would reduce the number of bargaining units in the health care sector. Another would give broader powers to the provincial children's advocate, who is currently limited to dealing with kids in government care.

Another seeks to create a new Crown agency to promote energy efficiency a move that has been questioned by one of the government's own backbenchers, Steven Fletcher.

• Premier hopes new Efficiency Manitoba Crown corporation will boost energy savings
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Flor Marcelino, the Opposition NDP's interim leader, said the Tory government has revealed an agenda of austerity since being elected, including plans to close some Winnipeg hospital emergency rooms and raise post-secondary tuition.

"They did very dismally, not just with working people, but with seniors, with students, with newcomers almost everyone except the privileged few," she said.

Legislation that would let universities and colleges raise tuition by five per cent or more each year is one of several bills being held over until the legislature resumes in October.

• University students protest plans to remove tuition cap, tax-rebate cuts

Thursday was Marcelino's last day in the legislature chamber as interim leader. The party is to pick a new boss in mid-September. She took over after last year's election loss that saw the party lose more than half its seats after 17 years in power.