The ability to work from home is proving to be a key sticking point in the ongoing labour negotiations between Canada’s federal government and its civil servants.
More than 155,000 civil servants have been on strike since April 19 as they demand higher wages and a ban on the contracting out of jobs from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.
However, remote work is also a key issue at the bargaining table. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing the civil servants, wants to entrench the right to work-from-home for its members.
The federal government is reportedly worried that such a move could set a precedent in Canada for both public and private sector organizations and is reluctant to meet the union’s demands on remote work.
Employers in Canada are increasingly pushing back on worker demands for permanent remote work arrangements, imposing hybrid work requirements in many cases.
Governments are also aware that permanent remote work could have negative consequences on real estate in major cities, as well as downtown businesses.
Last fall, business groups warned that government departments were lagging the private sector in bringing employees back to offices, notably in the Ottawa-Gatineau area that is home to thousands of federal civil servants.
The government said PSAC came to the bargaining table with more than 550 demands, and that it has managed to come to agreement on most of them except for remote work.
The union’s leadership has threatened to escalate its protests, possibly expanding them to Canada’s ports. The strike has resulted in a delay of several government services.
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