Federal public service | Common front of unions against returning to the office three days a week

(Ottawa) The major federal public service unions are promising war against the Trudeau government against returning to the office three days a week. They are furious at not having been consulted and are calling on the New Democratic Party (NDP) to push the government back as part of its agreement with the Liberals.

“The Trudeau Liberal government must prepare for a summer of discontent in whatever form it takes, whether at the borders or at the airport,” said the national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). ), Chris Aylward, at a press conference on Wednesday.

The union which represents 240,000 members is currently holding strike votes for employees of the Canada Border Services Agency. The return to work in person policy does not affect border crossing agents, but concerns other administration employees.

“We will organize concerted and unified actions across the country in the streets and also in the workplaces,” he added. It also wants to encourage its members to file “tens of thousands of grievances”.

The Treasury Board issued a new directive last week for public servants who work in hybrid mode to go to the office at least three days a week instead of two starting September 9. Executives will have to be present four days a week.

The PSAC, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) and the Association of Canadian Financial Officers (ACAF) are all the more opposed since the government announced its intention in the last federal budget to dispose of numerous buildings to create housing.

They denounce inadequate spaces where there are no longer enough desks for all employees and which are infested with vermin. There is no evidence that teleworking harms productivity, they add.

They also accuse the government of having ignored the letters of understanding concluded last year with the Treasury Board on teleworking in order to respond to the request of the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, and the mayor of Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffe, worried about the economy of the downtown core of the federal capital.

In a letter, 16 unions ask NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to “reconsider” his party’s position and “make a decisive move” as part of the agreement between the Liberals and the New Democrats.

“Most troubling is that the New Democratic Party of Canada continues to support a government that so blatantly disregards the rights and well-being of workers,” they write.

Mr. Singh is not yet ready to tear up the agreement with the Liberals. “We are going to use our power to support workers,” he said.

In another letter addressed to the President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand, the unions demand the “immediate cancellation” of the return to three days a week in the office.

“It’s the largest employer in the country. So, it’s not just a standard for workers in the federal public service. It’s a standard for everyone,” argued PSAC regional executive vice-president for the Federal Capital Region, Alex Silas.

Minister Anand argued that this issue falls within the employer’s right to manage. “It’s a decision that remains with the public service and the ministries,” she said in the press scrum.

Remote working was implemented at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 to prevent the spread of the virus. Three years later, he moved to a hybrid work model of two or three days a week.