The COVID truce seems to be over. Public sector unions have become used to working from home and have decided somehow that it is now their right. Civil Service employers have decided to return to the letter of their contracts. It is a summer of contract negotiations; both sides have forgotten what the cooperative method did for them, and are digging in.
The History
During the COVID epidemic, everybody stayed home. Great advancements were made in the techniques and equipment for remote working. Once the danger faded, workers have been reluctantly trickling back into their offices, but things will never be the same in the civil service or the private sector.
Recently
In December the Treasury Board announced a blanket policy, involving all federal government workers returning to the office for either two or three days a week. It was left to managers to decide who worked and when. Nobody was happy, but no one was too surprised.
Now
But recently the government announced that as of September, all public servants will be in the office three days a week. Understandably, unions see a gradual erosion of a benefit they thought they had achieved, and now they’re up in arms about it.
The crux of the matter is that none of these benefits are in the collective agreements. Unions have had a COVID-created windfall: an opportunity to test out a huge change in workplace policy and prove that it worked. Now they’re willing to fight tooth and nail to keep their gains.
Factors to consider:
Is Remote Working Effective?
The answer would have to be a qualified “Yes.”
It makes family and social life easier for workers.
It keeps cars off the road at rush hour.
It saves workers transportation and parking costs.
It saves money for office space.
It gives workers a sense of independence and is good for their mental health.
Presumably in the case of future epidemics, it would slow the spread of a disease.
What Are the Problems?
After a few years of cooperation, Ottawa is heading for a new round of contract negotiations, and both sides are reverting to type. If we can believe the union leaders, the federal government imposed the third day autocratically with no discussion and little warning. They do have the right. They gave the benefits freely; they can take them away. The unions are worried they will do this, and are threatening a summer of battle.
The Hidden Benefits
Remote work requires an elevated level of trust, and that is good for employer/employee relations. Also, different jobs and different people need to have different rules. This adds another prickly problem for Human Resources departments, but they seem to be functioning. It is progress away from the lockstep “one size fits all” approach that typifies the civil service. But the union’s aggressive threatening is self-destructive. “We hate you because you don’t trust us,” doesn’t play very well in any negotiation.
A Point of Argument
One undeniable benefit of having workers in the same workplace is the enhanced communication and synergy that results from group work. However, it seems that the government adapted to the remote employment situation by re-allocating its office spaces. Workers are sent to offices where there is space for them. This saves money on space rental, but it means that related workers are not necessarily in the same offices. In other words, they’re back at the office, but still working remotely.
The Bottom Line
Logic tells us that some form of hybrid remote/office work is the best way to go. However, back-to-normal politicking is about to spoil that. What could have been a great step forward in the work/life balance of the average worker of Canada looks to be returning to the old, slow shuffle.
Surely somebody is smart enough to create contract language that allows employees flexibility while at the same time guaranteeing employers the right to manage their work force efficiently.