At a press conference, Treasury Board Chairwoman Mona Fortier announced that federal public servants will need to work face-to-face. At least two or three days a week At the beginning of the new year.
The measure will be implemented in a phased manner from January 16 and will be fully implemented from March 31, 2023.
While the announcement was applauded by the mayors of Gatineau and Ottawa, as well as by downtown merchants, unions have expressed outrage over a decision they see as unilateral.
Alex Silas is regional executive vice-president for the National Capital Region of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (on file).
Photo: Radio-Canada
We were surprised when we got the news. It’s disappointing because we weren’t consulted, but they were [nous] They lied. Because last week when the rumor spread, the Treasury Board was asked, “Do you want to be forced to go back to work?” And they told us no many times. […] This shows bad faith in the Treasury Board and the Chairman of the Treasury Board
said Alex Silas, regional executive vice president for the National Capital Region.PSAC, Interviewed on the show Here are the morningsFriday.
According to him, this issue should have been discussed at the collective bargaining table.
They know this is a priority for our teams and our members, and we are going to file a complaint for unfair practice and to break the freeze on working conditions under negotiations.
Mr. Silas warns.
” It should have been negotiated at the table. This is still our aim. […] We will continue to push for the employer to return to the table and negotiate the language of work and our other priorities. »
Another union may also file a complaint
l’PSACThe union, which represents more than 230,000 workers across the country and around the world, was not the only union to react strongly to the Treasury Board Secretariat’s announcement.
It has been condemned by the Professional Institute of Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE).
Greg Phillips, President (Archives), Canadian Professional Employees Association
Photo: Radio-Canada / (Ashley Burke/CBC
Our lawyers are studying the situation to see if and when we will file a complaint. This is an option we are seriously considering.
President Greg Phillips notesCap.
It is disrespectful and a slap in the face to the unions and civil servants to come up with a new policy without consultation, without any discussion, and put it in our favour.
He adds.
A comment shared by Mr. Silas.
[Les employés] Go to work, no equipment, no workstations. Between January and March, he says, it’s not really clear how the employer intends to restore the face-to-face workplace. There are [employés] People who have completely changed their lives. They’ve made family adjustments, adapted everything to telework, and there, they’re being asked to come back.
” What’s the point of taking them back to the office if they can get the job done more efficiently while telecommuting? […] I think it will affect the service to the people. »
Mr. For Silas, the solution lies in negotiation. He raises the threat of a strike.
They’re talking about going back to work from January to March 2023, and if things don’t progress at the bargaining table we’re still in for a strike vote. So if there is a strike in early 2023, there will definitely be no return to office. I suggest Ms. Fortier focus instead on avoiding the federal public service strike.PSAC.
The government protects itself
Mr. In an email to Radio-Canada in response to Silas’ departure, Minister Fortier’s office defends itself.PSAC who left the bargaining table for his four bargaining units TBS.
The Treasury Board Secretariat is ready to negotiate if there is an agreementPSAC Go back to the table
It says.
Chair of the Treasury Board, Mona Fortier (Archives)
Photo: The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick
Minister Fortier’s team rejects that idea TBS It would have assured the union that it had no intention of forcing a return to office.
In fact, the TBS It confirmed that no announcement was planned at the time.
Cite other views on file for return to office.
Mr. Even when Silas revealed, ACFO [Association canadienne des agents financiers] It told its members: “We are concerned about misinformation in the media from other unions that leads employees to believe that telework is a collective bargaining right. No collective bargaining agreement in the public service includes a right to telework. A valid telecommuting agreement (can be terminated and is not indefinite) ) or accommodation, the employer has the right to ask the employees to come back to the office”.
A law professor’s opinion
At the legal level, the employer has the right to require employees to return to work under conditions that respect the standards and prescribed laws.
Adds Gilles Levasseur, professor of management and law at the University of Ottawa.
Gilles Levasseur is Professor of Management and Law at the University of Ottawa.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Asked whether the unions had a chance to overturn the Treasury Board decision, he replied: For example, it will be difficult if they cannot prove that there is a health and safety risk to employees at work.
We have been using shelters for two or three years with electronic equipment, and it takes a lot of work to change these shelters (…) Here’s the problem: do we want to do it gradually or directly? Route is like command output [jeudi].
With information by Julien David-Pelletier and Marie-Jeanne Dubreuil
