Liberals Urged to Reject Budget Over Employment Law Provisions

PSAC is lobbying the Liberal goverment to reject the Tory budget, or at least go back to Harper and demand a few changes.  The controversial provisions include a legislated wage cut of 1 percent to an agreement bargained last year and the changes to the pay equity model discussed in an earlier posting and in this letter in the Ottawa Citizen.   The Tories have conceded that they have no idea whether the pay equity changes will save any money for taxpayers, but the wage rollback will save some money (accoring to PSAC, it will cost workers just over $500).  So the Tories have said, on the one hand, unions should be given the responsibility for bargaining human rights (equal pay), and on the other hand, the government will override what the unions bargain whenever it suits its political agenda. 
But can the Feds override a collective agreement wage term through budget legislation?  For the law students, isn`t this a Charter violation of the sort that came up in B.C. Health Services   And for you international labour law experts, isn`t a government imposed wage freeze and roll back of a collective agreement clause a violation of ILO Convention 87.    Ah, governments these days certainly know how to keep labour lawyers busy.