Face-to-face work: unions make a joint outing against the government

Dissatisfied with the obligation to work in the office three days a week, public service unions decided to unite with one voice and file grievances against the Treasury Board. The largest public service union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), is even asking the New Democratic Party to reconsider its support for the Liberals.

These grievances of principle filed by thePSACthe Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) come a week after the government changed the directive on teleworking.

The unions also intend to file a complaint for unfair labor practice, because they accuse the Treasury Board of having made these changes without having warned or consulted them and, therefore, of having violated the Labor Relations Act in the federal public sector.

This policy not only violates the government’s commitment to unions and its hard-working staff — it also defies logic and reality.

The unions also deplore that this decision was taken without consideration of workspace issues.

If there had been proper consultation, the government would have understood the challenges our members face in these workspaces: inadequate meeting spaces, insufficient workstations and the absurdity of traveling to a workplace assigned only to attend virtual meetings all dayhas indicated Sean O’Reillyvice-president of PIPSC.

L’ACEP recalls for its part that the government’s decision to divest itself of 50% of its office space, as announced in its recent budget, is in contradiction with this new work orientation.

% of their time in an office will make this promise virtually untenable, as employees are already reporting that it is difficult for them to get a desk during their workdays”,”text”:”Forcing employees to spend 60% of their time in an office will make this promise virtually untenable, as employees are already reporting that it is difficult for them to get a desk during their workdays”}}”>Requiring employees to spend 60% of their time in an office will make this promise virtually untenable, as employees are already reporting difficulty getting a desk during their workdayswrites theACEP in his press release.

L’PSAC judges that the government contravened section 106 of the Federal Public Sector Labor Relations Act, namely the obligation to negotiate in good faith, and section 186 prohibiting the employer from interfering in the administration of a trade union organization.

Force a return to the office for no reason, without a productivity study, knowing that offices are probably not ready to accommodate a large number of workers […] it’s insulting and goes against what we negotiated in good faith with the Treasury Board during the last round of negotiationsexplained Alex Silas, the regional executive vice president of thePSAC in the National Capital Region, in an interview on the show Mornings here.

The unions are now asking the Treasury Board to reverse course and return to two days of face-to-face work per week.

The government stays the course

The exit of the main public service unions has not moved the government in its desire to bring civil servants back to the office three days a week.

I reiterate that the decision was taken after careful consideration.confided the Member of Parliament for Gatineau and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Steven MacKinnon, Wednesday morning. I think this is an appropriate decision.

Obviously, there are people who are less comfortable, who have found a sort of routine with teleworking, but there are others, many, who say they are happy to return to the office.

In the policy grievance of which Radio-Canada obtained a copy, thePSAC writing : the conditions relating to teleworking and remote working were decisive during the last round of negotiations [entre l’AFPC et le Conseil du Trésor].

This issue was one of the main reasons for the strike which took place in April and May 2023, says the union, and the letter of understanding drafted at the end of the negotiations was a fundamental element allowing it to be put to an end.

Although letters of agreement on teleworking have been negotiated with the government, the President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand, made a point of reminding us on Wednesday that teleworking is not part of the collective agreements.

A hybrid work environment is not part of collective agreements.

During the negotiations, the Government of Canada retained the prerogative to determine the scope of the hybrid environmentsaid Ms. Anand.

Unions call out Jagmeet Singh

In a letter addressed to the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and of which Radio-Canada obtained a copy, thePSAC and several other public service unions urge Jagmeet Singh to no longer support a government that so blatantly disregards the rights and well-being of workers.

Singh, to reconsider your party’s position and make a decisive move by using the power provisions of the Liberal-NDP Support and Trust Agreement to hold the Liberals accountable for their actions.” “text”:”We urge you, Mr. Singh, to reconsider your party’s position and make a decisive move by resorting to the provisions relating to the power of the agreement of support and confidence between the Liberals and the neo- Democrats to hold liberals accountable for their actions”}}”>We urge you, Mr. Singh, to reconsider your party’s position and make a decisive move by using the power provisions of the Liberal-NDP Support and Confidence Agreement to hold the liberals responsible for their actionswrites the union. Singh. We implore you to stand with us, in solidarity, against these injustices.”,”text”:”It is time to act, Mr. Singh. We implore you to stand with us, in solidarity, against these injustices.”}}”>It’s time to act, Mr. Singh. We implore you to stand with us, in solidarity, against these injustices.

A request that the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Steven MacKinnon, was quick to comment on.

I think that public service unions represent well and try to represent the point of view of their members, I find it a little less appropriate when they interfere in politicsreplied the member for Gatineau.

With information from Maude Ouellet and Estelle Côté-Sroka