The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the largest federal public service union in the country, said the government’s new changes to the number of days public servants will spend in the office a week are “grounds for legal action.”
On Feb. 5,
the federal government announced
it would order most public servants back to the office for four days a week, starting on July 6. Executives will be expected to be back in the office full-time on May 4.
“The government of Canada is not above the law and we will hold them accountable,” PSAC president Sharon DeSousa said in an interview. “They cannot change our members’ working conditions arbitrarily. This is just wrong.”
In a news release, PSAC called the decision “insulting for any employer, let alone the government, to change the conditions of work while its workers are in bargaining.”
The union said it’s “prepared to take any legal action against changes to the in-office mandate.”
However, a challenge PSAC launched against the current requirement of three days in the office for public servants
.
The abeyance, or pause, was requested to let the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board determine if it has jurisdiction over a policy grievance brought forward by PSAC to challenge the three-day directive.
The
labour board recently ruled in PSAC’s favour
in a matter involving telework for Library of Parliament workers. Lawyers said the decision could have implications for the broader public service and that it opened the door to have remote work negotiated in collective agreements.
The federal government previously maintained that remote work was off-limits in collective bargaining, and that any decisions concerning working from home should be made by management.
Observers expect the federal government will appeal the labour board’s decision.
It’s unclear what kind of legal action PSAC may now take to challenge the new requirements, but the union said it will be taking “a different approach this time.”
“We will fight, and nothing is off the table,” PSAC said.
When asked how the union’s approach will differ this time, DeSousa said that the circumstances have changed due to the labour relations board’s decision concerning Library of Parliament workers. She added that another difference is that PSAC is currently
in negotiations with the government
on a new collective agreement.
The union argued the government has violated an “agreement on remote work” that that was struck between the two after a PSAC strike in 2023. Rather than enshrine remote work in the collective agreement, PSAC and the government signed a letter of agreement on the issue.
The government’s remote work announcement came shortly
after thousands of public servants received notice
in recent weeks that their jobs could be cut as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s spending review. The federal government’s plan is to
cut around 30,000 public service jobs
over several years.
“I cannot tell you how bad this is going to be right now, if you can imagine,” DeSousa said.
“We have over 10,000 PSAC members who have received workforce adjustment letters, and now they’re being put in a position of coming in four days a week when they know three days a week was a hot mess.”
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