TORONTO — Thirty thousand Ontario civil servants, including 1,300 in Thunder Bay, are getting a pay hike.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union released the details of an arbitration award resulting from wage reopener negotiations triggered by a November 2022 court decision that declared Bill 124 unconstitutional.
The controversial legislation enacted in 2019 capped public sector wage increases at one per cent for each of three years.
The union announced Tuesday that the arbitrator has awarded OPSEU Unified members working for various government ministries raises of 3 per cent for 2022, 3.5 per cent for 2023, and 3 per cent in 2024.
"This award is a direct result of the unwavering solidarity of OPSEU Unified members who refused to back down," said OPSEU president JP Hornick.
"Their perseverance is what moved the needle in our favour and what enabled us to win the largest increases these workers have seen in nearly 12 years."
The pay hikes include the 1 per cent already agreed upon in the signed 2022 collective agreement with the government.
According to OPSEU, the arbitrator also identified several job classes with hiring and retention issues related to wage disparity, and awarded immediate special wage adjustments.
There's also a new dispute resolution process to address wage disparities in other job classifications.
Across Northwestern Ontario, the award covers over 2,000 members of the union including those in Thunder Bay.
