Alberta's largest union and the UCP government will likely know next week if the province can delay wage arbitration using Bill 9.
The UCP government was in court in Edmonton Thursday to appeal a recent ruling against its wage arbitration bill.
A representative with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees tells CTV News Edmonton that the three-judge panel reserved their decision Thursday.
Bill 9, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act, will delay wage arbitration with thousands of unionized employees. The bill became law in the spring session.
AUPE maintains that the legislation violates their bargaining agreements, which included third-year wage arbitrations.
AUPE successfully got an injunction against the bill on July 30, preventing the government from implementing the act. The government announced their appeal the next day.
At the time, Justice Eric Macklin said the public expects parties to honour the terms of contracts and agreements.
"It is no different if one of the contracting parties is the government. A member of the public expects, and is entitled to expect, that an agreement reached with the government will be honoured," Macklin wrote.
