The provincial government has successfully appealed the injunction that had stalled the bill that would pave the way for delays in wage negotiations with public employees.

The injunction had been granted to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) in August over the constitutionality of the bill.

Two justices approved the appeal while a third judge dissented.

“Today’s decision by the Court of Appeal is a positive result for Alberta taxpayers," said Minister of Finance Travis Toews in a statement released Friday morning. "We introduced Bill 9 because Albertans rightly expect that the government would have the full picture of the province’s economic situation before engaging in public sector compensation discussions."

"Our government has great respect and admiration for the work of Alberta’s public sector and I look forward to constructive discussions with union leadership as we seek the best value for the hard-earned dollars that Albertans pay for our public services in this difficult economic climate."

Guy Smith, AUPE president, says the union is disappointed with the decision but is encouraged by the fact there was a dissenting opinion in the matter and a review will be conducted to see if there is an opportunity to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. Smith adds that progress was made during the time between the granting of the injunction and the appeal.

"Our members know that there are much more significant challenges ahead and we are preparing for those," said Smith. "We still have our legal challenge against the legality of Bill 9 which is going to be heard sometime in the future. The court processes aren't over yet but it's important to recognize that we actually managed to get our arbitration hearings in and completed. When we resume those, as per Bill 9 after October 31, we've already done the heavy lifting and all the evidence is in."

Smith says public workers are in the provincial government's crosshairs and need to rely upon their strength and solidarity as the recommendations of the MacKinnon report, released earlier this week, are "basically a blueprint for the destruction of public services in the province".

"In the blue ribbon panel, depending on how many of the recommendations the government accepts and I presume they accept all of them because it looks like Jason Kenney wrote that report, one of the things they talked about is bringing in legislation which would severely restrict where an arbitrator could rule."