Manitoba court rejects demand from unions for injunction against wage freeze
WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s public-sector unions lost a bid Friday for a temporary court injunction against a provincial government bill that would freeze wages for 110,000 workers.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice James Edmond rejected a request from more than a dozen unions —representing teachers, nurses, civil servants and others — to delay the wage freeze until a full court hearing on its constitutional validity can be held.
“Courts will rarely order that laws that Parliament or the legislature have duly enacted for the public good will not operate or be enforceable in advance of a full constitutional review,” Edmond wrote in his 50-page ruling.
“I am not satisfied that this is one of those clear cases of a charter violation (where) an interlocutory injunction or stay should be granted pending a trial on the constitutionality of the (bill).”