More than 70,000 letters sent to minister, MPs about public service return-to-office policy

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Since the government updated its policy on public servants’ required presence in the workplace, more than 70,000 letters have been sent to members of Parliament and the Treasury Board president via union campaigns.

As of May 17, 45,047 letters had been sent via an online Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) campaign, and 25,395 letters had been sent through another campaign sponsored by the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE).

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The federal government updated its policy on remote work earlier this month, requiring public servants to spend three days a week in the office by mid-September. Executives will be expected to be on-site for a minimum of four days per week.

The decision has been met with frustration from both employees and unions, some of whom have filed unfair labour practice complaints and policy grievances.

Union heads from PSAC, CAPE, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, and the Association of Canadian Financial Officers also said at a recent press conference that the government should prepare for a “summer of discontent.” The unions said there would be “concerted, coordinated actions across the country,” though further details on the planned tactics were not shared at the time.

On their letter-writing campaign websites, both PSAC and CAPE are urging members to contact their members of Parliament and Treasury Board president Anita Anand, asking them to withdraw the forthcoming decision on office presence.

“This decision was made without any consultation with unions or workers, and flies in the face of the telework agreement PSAC negotiated in the last round of bargaining,” states the PSAC website. “This mandate — enforced without any evidence-based research to support it — will have deep and long-lasting impacts on the morale of federal public service workers.”

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“It’s time to fight back.”

The Treasury Board Secretariat has confirmed that it did not undertake any studies on productivity or collaboration before making the decision. The government did send out three hybrid profile questionnaires to department heads on hybrid work, with some briefly touching on the issues.

The campaign organized by CAPE, run through an online platform called Action Network, stated that the federal government was “bending to political pressure” rather than supporting its employees. Before the decision was announced, Ontario Premier Doug Ford had urged the federal government to send its workers back to the office.

“I know a lot of people love working at home, but we need the federal government to get their workers back in the office,” Ford said. “Hopefully the prime minister will call people back to work.”

In a statement sent to this newspaper earlier this month, Anand said the policy update was an administrative decision taken by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), working with the Privy Council and deputy ministers from across the government, and was not a political decision.

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She said hybrid work was not part of the signed collective agreements, meaning that TBS had the “autonomy to adapt workplaces to best meet operational requirements while upholding obligations under the various collective agreements.”

Anand added that she had and would continue to prioritize relationships with unions and her team, noting that she had met “on several occasions” with union leaders from across the public service to discuss issues of concern.

CAPE president Nathan Prier said the number of letters that have been sent offers affirmation of what the union already knew: that the majority of workers want remote work rights.

Prier said encouraging members to keep writing letters was “the bare minimum,” adding that the union was exploring workplace escalations to try to make the policy “unenforceable,” through any means possible while staying within their legal rights.

“We’re just not that interested in consultation on this anymore,” Prier said. “We’ll be putting petitions forward, we’ll be doing workplace actions across the summer.”

Prier said the union was working to develop a “community coalition” on telework alongside other unions and housing, environmental and child-care organizations.

In its campaign, CAPE said workers “must demand the right to telework” in their next collective agreement, noting that Australian and British Columbian public servants have access to telework rights.

“We keep the federal government running, our voices matter and we have the power to challenge and shape the policies that impact us,” the website states.

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