HALIFAX – The provincial Court of Appeal has ruled unanimously in favour of the union representing the province’s highway workers and against the provincial government, in a legal process that began more than 18 months ago.
In a unanimous decision of three justices, the court rejected the government’s appeal of a decision by a Supreme Court judge that had already upheld a decision by the Highway Workers Employee Relations Board, on which items could go to arbitration for the province’s 1,600 highway workers.
Nova Scotia Highway Workers’ Union (CUPE Local 1867) President Gareth Drinnan says, “This government has been trying for 18 months now to undermine the work of one of its own tribunals. First they appealed to the province’s Supreme Court, who ruled in favour of the Board’s decision. When they didn’t like the answer they got there, they tried their luck with the Court of Appeal.
“Yesterday’s hearing, which took less than two hours, rejected the government’s appeal out of hand. In short, government’s attempts to frustrate highway workers have now been quashed,” says Drinnan.
“We can only hope that this has been a valuable lesson for this government and future government’s in Nova Scotia. Don’t waste taxpayers’ money fighting decisions of your very own tribunals. The province’s taxpayers expect nothing less from their governments,” says Drinnan.
For information:
Gareth Drinnan
CUPE Local 1867 president
(902) 499-5794 (cell)
Robert Chisholm
CUPE national representative
(902) 488-4784 (cell)
John McCracken
CUPE communications
(902) 455-4180 (o)