This week, Chris Aylward, national president of Canada’s largest public sector union, warned Canadians they face “a summer of discontent.”
Mr. Aylward, of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, joined the leaders of three other public sector unions to announce that they had launched a series of legal challenges against the federal government’s requirement that most of their members report to their workplace at least three days a week starting in September. And they said they would take “coordinated actions” leading to disruption as leverage.
For most Canadians, the option of working primarily from home disappeared some time ago with the health threat of a pandemic. In January, Statistics Canada reported that 20 percent of people, including civil servants, spend the majority of their working time at home. That’s well below the 40 percent level at the height of the pandemic, but still higher than 2019’s level of 7 percent.
Return-to-power mandates remain a major source of contention within the federal public service. This was one of the key issues behind a 15-day strike a little over a year ago. But these pressure tactics did not lead to an agreement giving civil servants the right to work mainly from home.
Many government employees, such as border guards and prisons, cannot work remotely, but the government now requires all others to report to their workplace at least twice a week. Mr. Aylward and other union leaders said at their news conference that many of their members are having trouble finding workspaces or equipment when they arrive. They all argued that adding an extra day would make these problems worse.
“This misguided decision sets workers up for failure by pushing them into physical offices,” Mr. Aylward said. He added that more travel would hurt Canada’s climate goals and suggested government offices could become residential buildings to help solve the housing crisis.
Crucially, union leaders said the move was a political move by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to appease Doug Ford, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative premier, who recently said he would like to see more workers, as well than commercial owners, come back. in the city centers of cities.
One factor that has not helped the government’s cause is that most officials learned of the plan, which comes into force on September 9, from a report in The Ottawa Citizen based on a leaked note. (Executive-level officials will be required to appear four days a week.)
Anita Anand, the minister responsible for Treasury Board and, therefore, personnel matters, told reporters that the decision was made by senior officials, not politicians.
Myah Tomasi, Ms. Anand’s press secretary, did not respond to questions about how this group settled in for three days at the office. She said the government had verified that offices would be able to accommodate staff when they appeared more frequently.
“It’s an absolute disaster,” said Professor Linda Duxbury of Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, who began studying remote work well before the pandemic. “The union’s arguments are not convincing. The union has no right to dictate. Where you work is in the hands of the employer.
At the same time, she added, “the Government of Canada is trying to take the simplest route, which is to focus on the days. The hardest way, and the right way, is to focus on work.
Professor Duxbury said private sector employers with effective return-to-work programs look at various factors to determine the working time required for each job, including “how much time is spent interacting with customers, how much Creativity is involved, how much innovation is needed, and how much time is needed for things that we know require in-person interaction. Such studies, she said, have found that while some jobs can be done entirely remotely, others may require attendance five days a week and many fall somewhere in between.
Union leaders were vague about what kind of “workplace action” would trigger the summer of disruption. Perhaps for good reason: any type of workplace slowdown or walkout would be treated by the government as illegal under labor law.
A union representing Canada Border Services Agency employees is in contract talks and could, in theory, call a legal strike. But a government official told me that 80 percent of its members are essential workers who cannot strike.
Professor Duxbury said that if the unions follow through on their threats, it is certain that there will be a result.
“I don’t expect much sympathy from the Canadian public,” she said.
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Originally from Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported on Canada for The New York Times for two decades. Follow him on Bluesky at @ianausten.bsky.social.
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