October 19, 2026

Province Held To Account for Reckless Bill 148

 Province Held To Account for Reckless Bill 148
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Province Held To Account for Reckless Bill 148

The labour movement earned an important victory today for the rights of workers and the collective bargaining process. While this message is being shared with all members the eligibility for compensation is restricted to those who were impacted by the legislation.   As you know, the McNeil Liberals passed and proclaimed Bill 148 into law in 2014. This legislation imposed significant wage restraint and stripped away benefits from working people by circumventing the fair and free collective bargaining process. Nova Scotia unions (NSGEU, CUPE, CUPW, NSNU, NSTU, SEIU, Unifor and IUOE) came together and challenged the legality of Bill 148 in court.

The law was found to be unconstitutional, and the court provided time for the unions and the Province to attempt to negotiate a financial remedy. The parties then engaged in a mediation process through the assistance of a jointly appointed arbitrator.   Today, the parties, through legal counsel, were back before Justice Smith to provide the court with a proposed consent order that requires the Province to pay damages to union members who were employed during the four years that Bill 148 prevented free and fair collective bargaining.   The agreement put forward includes an award of damages of up to $5,000 to union members identified on each bargaining unit’s seniority list (or comparable list for the bargaining unit if there is no seniority list), as follows:

$1,250 if the member worked during the first year of wage restraint. ·          
$1,250 if the member worked during the second year of wage restraint. ·          
$750 if the member worked during the third year of wage restraint. ·          
$500 if the member worked during the fourth year of wage restraint. ·     
$1,250 for each member who was eligible for a Service Award and would have accrued additional service towards the Service Award but for Bill 148.  

The exact years the wage restraint was in place vary by bargaining unit. The years can be identified by the four years in which the wage increases were set at 0%, 0%, 1%, and 1.5%, with 0.5% on the last day of the fourth year.   As part of the proposal, the unions achieved a commitment from the Province that it will not pursue an appeal of Justice Smith’s decision. This means that both the February 25, 2026 decision and today’s proposal are not put at risk by an appeal. This commitment also ensures that Justice Smith’s decision stands as a precedent for any other government that would consider using legislation to restrain collective bargaining rights in the future.   This is a significant win for workers, not just in Nova Scotia, but across the country.

The precedent of this order removes the legislative hammer governments have used in the past to impose wage patterns or other conditions on unionized workers. Future negotiations will be protected because of this landmark case.   It is important to remember that the primary objective of the court case was to have Bill 148 ruled illegal, which it did.

If this law was allowed to stand, unchallenged, it would forever impact collective bargaining, as workers would have no leverage or power at the bargaining table. The government could legislate any outcome it wanted without any recourse for workers.   The agreement holds the Province accountable for their reckless use of legislation to bypass collective bargaining by providing some monetary compensation to those directly impacted.   

Justice Smith has asked for clarification and revisions to the proposed order, as well as confirmation of payment dates. If the Justice accepts the amended order it will be issued from the court and will mark the end to this long legal process.   Please continue to monitor your email for future updates when they become available.  

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