MEDIA RELEASE: Unions Prevail in Bill 148 Charter Challenge

(Dartmouth) – More than a decade after the McNeil Liberal government passed Bill 148, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has issued a historic decision that rules government violated the constitutional rights of public sector workers.

“This is a great day for workers’ rights in Nova Scotia,” said NSGEU President Sandra Mullen, “This ruling is the first step towards correcting this historic injustice towards our members, and many others.”

The legislation, which was passed in December 2015, imposed a two-year wage freeze on public servants and reached into their collective agreement to remove the public service award. The unions representing these workers – NSGEU, CUPE, CUPE Local 1867, NSNU, NSTU, Unifor, SEIU, IUOE, and CUPW – came together under the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour (NSFL), committed to fighting this legislation.

Tim Houston had promised to repeal Bill 148 when he was campaigning in August 2021. But when he was elected as Premier, he broke that promise and continued to waste taxpayers’ money on this legal challenge, which he has now lost.

“Now, Premier Houston and Premier McNeil can share this stain on their respective legacies,” said Mullen.

The legal battle which ensued spanned almost a decade and included 17 affidavit submissions filed on behalf of the unions, as well as four rebuttal submissions. Ultimately, the judge accepted the unions’ positions on both the wage restraint and loss of long service award and completely rejected the government’s arguments.

The ruling states that: “Bill 148 removed the Applicant Unions’ leverage on monetary items and thereby upset the balance of power between the parties and negated the ability of the Unions to engage in meaningful bargaining.” 

The decision also notes that “the fiscal implications of an immediate declaration of invalidity would likely be considerable,” so they are allowing government an additional 12 months to find a remedy, but the judge has reserved jurisdiction on the case to order a remedy, if required. Government may choose to file an appeal, but given they have already been ordered to pay the unions’ legal costs, this would be a fiscally irresponsible decision.

“We look forward to government making our members whole and finally correcting this injustice for workers,” said Mullen.

The legal decision can be read here: https://nsgeu.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-nssc-57.pdf

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The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union represents more than 39,000 workers who provide quality public services Nova Scotians count on every day.

For more information, or to arrange an interview with NSGEU President Sandra Mullen, please contact:

Holly Fraughton, NSGEU Communications Officer,

902-471-1781 (cell)

hfraughton@nsgeu.ca

Lucas Wide, NSGEU Communications Officer,

lwide@nsgeu.ca