Limiting pay increases for public sector workers will save jobs and make sure everyone gets a raise, says Premier Doug Ford.

In the legislature Thursday, Ford said his government introduced legislation to curb pay increases over the next three years because it is dealing with a multibillion-dollar deficit and had to make a choice of giving raises “and laying off thousands of people, or everyone take an increase.”

“Everyone is going to keep their job,” the premier said. “They’re going to get a pay increase. We decided to make sure that we went that route instead of the other route of laying people off that previous governments had to do.”

But Ontario unions say workers are already receiving layoff notices, and vowed to fight the government over legislation they say violates worker rights.

“We are going to take every action that we can to fight this legislation along with our colleagues in the labour movement,” said Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, who was at Queen’s Park Thursday in a show of solidarity with other union leaders.

“You cannot introduce this kind of legislation and just expect them to stand on the sidelines,” he said. “Absolutely there is going to be pushback on this.”

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On Wednesday, the Ford government proposed the bill that would cap broader public sector worker raises at 1 per cent a year for the next three years when contracts expire. The bill will go to a legislative committee this summer and is unlikely to become law until the fall.

Unions say they will challenge the legislation — which also covers school boards, universities and hospitals — on constitutional grounds.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath accused Ford of “deliberately picking fights and creating chaos.”

“The premier has gone from ripping up contracts, however, now to dictating contracts,” she said, referring to the government’s decision to renege on its contract with the Beer Store.

Chris Buckley, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, which represents one million workers, called the legislation “unprecedented in Ontario” and said it “takes the attack on workers to a new level.”

He warned unions are “not going to let this government brush away Charter rights.”

“We will fight back like this province has never seen in a long, long time,” he added. “We will show this government the power of many.”

Laura Walton, president of the CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, said claims of no job losses “are not true.”

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“We are expecting layoffs,” she added, and even without them, students will see fewer services in schools.

On Thursday, more than 200 rallies and “walk-ins” were planned at Ontario schools, where parents and community members “cheered” in students and staff in a show of support.

Public service wages were frozen from 2012 to 2016 to help the previous Liberal government balance the budget in 2017.

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