Ontario Nurses' Association celebrates second Bill 124 legal victory as Ford government loses its appeal of earlier decision

TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2024 /CNW/ - Ontario's front-line registered nurses and health-care professionals are celebrating another decision by the courts, a decision released that is clear: Bill 124, wage-suppression legislation passed by the Ford government in 2019, is unconstitutional.

Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN, says, "This sham of a bill should never have been passed. With the loss of the government's appeal of an earlier ruling, it's clear that Doug Ford should begin to listen to the real front-line nurses and health-care professionals providing care in this province."

Ariss says that front-line workers and their union have made it crystal clear that this bill is driving them out of the profession. "Since Doug Ford took office in 2018, the number of nurses leaving the system has increased every year," she says. "For every 10 nurses this government says have been hired, six have left."

ONA members have loudly protested this legislation for years, in rallies, in the media and warned of the health-care system damage being caused by this bill.

"Targeting the wages and benefits of those who hold the system together, during a pandemic and beyond, was guaranteed to harm Ontarians and the health care they need and deserve," says Ariss.

"Today's decision reinforces that nurses and health-care professionals are entitled to the same constitutional rights as every other citizen under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We urge the Premier to accept this decision and stop fighting public-sector workers in court. Premier Ford must stop attacking workers and take meaningful action to heal our public health-care system."

ONA is the union representing 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals as well as more than 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics, and industry.

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association