Supreme Court ruling justifies teachers’ collective actions on Bill 7

Supreme Court ruling justifies teachers’ collective actions on Bill 7

June 14, 2022

(Halifax, Kjipuktuk, NS) – NSTU President Paul Wozney says teachers have been validated by today’s Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruling that Bill 75 was unconstitutional.

In a decision released today Honourable Justice John A. Keith states: “At best, Bill 75 was an over-zealous but misguided attempt at fiscal responsibility. At worst, Bill 75 was punitive or a vengeful attempt to gain unrelated, collateral benefit with other public sector unions at the expense of the NSTU. Whatever the motivation, by selectively dismantling Tentative Agreement 3, Bill 75 failed to fully respect the process of good faith collective bargaining and was terribly wrong.”

“The imposition of Bill 75 by the McNeil Government facilitated the only province-wide teachers strike in the history of Nova Scotia, and today’s ruling justifies the unprecedented actions educators took at the time to defend their collective rights and public education,” says Wozney. “Even today, five years later, the impacts of Bill 75 on teacher morale are still being felt. Hopefully this will help provide some additional closure.”

Wozney also acknowledges that Bill 75 created a complicated mess and the NSTU will need to review it carefully over the coming days before providing a more robust response to Justice Keith’s decision.

“Bill 75 was both vindictive and petty and unfortunately has had far reaching implications for our members. It’s only prudent that we engage with our legal counsel as we try and process today’s decision. We will have more to say in the near future.”