UFCW & Union Coalition defeat Ford at Court of Appeal: Bill 124 repealed

In February, the Court of Appeal rejected the Ford Conservatives’ appeal of a 2022 ruling that found Bill 124 to be unconstitutional.

The Court recognized that Bill 124 prevented workers, “many of whom are women, racialized and/or low-income earners,” from having the ability to negotiate for better compensation or even better working conditions.

This legislation severely limited the bargaining ability of our members in many workplaces.

Since March 2020, your Union has been part of a coalition fighting back against the legislation which effectively capped wages for many of our members and interfered with their right to bargain collectively. This coalition ultimately brought about the successful court challenge that struck down the anti-constitutional legislation.

The 2022 decision that struck down the legislation found that the Bill was contrary to section 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the freedom to associate.

And on February 23, following its loss at the Court of Appeal, and much to the celebration of labour activists across the province, the Ford government repealed its own legislation.

Recently, a number of companies in the United States have taken up legal proceedings against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for that country. Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, SpaceX, and Amazon, and are all similarly claiming that the structure of the NLRB is unconstitutional.

Those same companies are also all, coincidentally, facing various charges from the NLRB. Those charges include retaliating against employees for union activity for Amazon and Trader Joe's; firing workers who criticized Elon Musk at SpaceX, and; Starbucks is challenging the requirement to reinstate employees fired during an organizing campaign.

And while these particular cases are in the U.S., there is no doubt that many employers and politicians within our borders will be watching closely.

It is clear that the constant battle to ensure that workers’ rights are upheld and respected is not going away any time soon. We see it happening across the border and we definitely see it here in our own province and country. After all, Bill 124 was an outright attack on public sector workers and their rights.

Our adversaries may be wellfunded to the tune of billions of dollars, and no doubt they will have the ear of many politicians, but no matter what opponent we’re up against, your union will continue to battle for the rights of our members.

I want to echo President Tosato’s thank-you to our Membership and Executive Board for the incredible support. I have been honoured and privileged to serve this Local Union for many years and I am truly humbled to now represent the Members of Local 175 as your Secretary-Treasurer.

I look forward to what we can achieve collectively and I will do everything in my power to help this membership grow and flourish. I know we can continue to achieve great things.

In Solidarity, Jim McLean

treasurer@ufcw175.com