Job action with 101 prosecutors began on Oct. 23
HALIFAX (CP) — Nova Scotia’s Liberal government is poised to push through legislation today that would mean the province’s striking Crown attorneys return to work by next week.
The provincial attorney general today asked to adjourn an application for an injunction that would have forced the 101 prosecutors back to work, saying it is no longer necessary.
Justice Heather Robertson agreed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court to adjourn the hearing, with the strong possibility it may be dropped altogether.
The Crowns have been off the job since Wednesday for all but the most serious cases in protest against legislation that would remove rights to binding arbitration agreed to three years ago.
The province says fraud, impaired driving and assault cases have been dropped since the Crowns’ action began.
The proposed law gives prosecutors the right to strike but adds that an essential services agreement must be in place _which the Nova Scotia Crown Attorneys’ Association says effectively removes their negotiating power and is unconstitutional.
Premier Stephen McNeil has defended his government’s offer of a seven per cent raise over four years and has argued that sending the matter to arbitration would have broken the government’s pattern of wage increases for public sector workers.
The Liberal government has said the result would have been unaffordable to Nova Scotia taxpayers.
