Public service union's court challenge of return-to-office order will proceed
Federal civil servants have been ordered to return to the office 3 days a week starting Sept. 9
A Federal Court judge has ordered a full hearing be held in the Public Service Alliance of Canada's challenge to the federal government's return-to-office directive.
On Thursday, Justice Glennys L. McVeigh dismissed the federal government's attempts to quash or halt the challenge, saying both sides needed to argue the matter based on a full record.
In May, the federal government issued a directive requiring its workers to come into the office for a minimum of three days a week, or 60 per cent of their regular weekly or monthly schedules. The directive comes into force Sept. 9.
Within a week of the May announcement, PSAC launched a policy grievance, two complaints with the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, and an application for a judicial review in Federal Court.
The federal government tried to quash the court challenge, or have it stayed until all the other challenges were resolved. In a court filing last month, the government argued "courts should not intervene in employment disputes before the processes provided for have been exhausted."
But the Federal Court sided with the union in allowing the court case to proceed to a full hearing.
"As the moving party with the burden of proof, the Attorney General was responsible for presenting a 'knockout punch' argument that addressed all of PSAC's submissions," McVeigh wrote in her decision, adding the government had not met said burden.
"Although I am choosing not to exercise my discretion to strike the application at this stage, this decision should not be interpreted as an endorsement of PSAC's arguments. I simply conclude that the parties must argue this matter based on a full record."
Still, the union is hailing the decision.
"I think this is a very important win for workers' rights and the fight against the government's arbitrary telework mandate," PSAC national president Sharon DeSousa told CBC News, referring to the court decision.
"We don't even know why they made this decision. We've heard words around collaboration and office culture, but there's no data. There's no information as to why they made the decision. So this is what this hearing, eventually when we have our day in court, will allow us to attain."
'It makes no sense'
DeSousa said the union ultimately wants remote work arrangements to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Complicating the return-to-work directive, she said, is that some PSAC members were offered, and accepted, government jobs that aren't located near where they lived.
PSAC lacks data on how many of its members are in such a situation, deferring to the government for those hiring numbers.
Meanwhile, the court referred the lawsuit to a case manager to help both sides set timelines for the hearing.
But with no date set as of yet for a case management meeting, any hearing likely won't be held before the Sept. 9 deadline. DeSousa said PSAC is advising its members to follow "any direction given" by the government on working in the office, or risk potential discipline.
The union launched a petition on Wednesday calling on the government to repeal the directive and proceed on a case-by-case basis. The petition had amassed nearly 26,000 signatures by Friday afternoon, the union said.
"Right now, what we have are workers who've been hired during the pandemic to work remotely, where they report to an office halfway across the country. And they're being told to drive in to work, or they're going to have to commute hours upon hours," DeSousa said.
"It makes no sense."
Some argue office presence improves performance
Appearing on CBC's Power & Politics on Friday, Christiane Fox, the deputy clerk of the Privy Council Office, said many federal public servants are already back in the office five days a week — pointing to federally-employed nurses in Indigenous communities and prison guards.
Asked what sort of consequences workers who don't abide by the directive starting Sept. 9 would face, Fox said she believes the majority of public servants would adhere to the directive.
"I think people want to comply with what their employer is asking them to do," she said.
"They want to serve Canadians. And so, in the instances where we may not have compliance, yes of course people have to adhere to the organizations and the directions of the Treasury Board, and our expectation is they will do so.
"And if they don't, then we will take the appropriate steps to deal with that from a management-to-employer perspective."
Fox also reiterated that employees being physically present improved collaboration on complex files, noting this was one of the drivers to have employees return to the office.
"I played basketball at Carleton University. I could shoot a basketball in my driveway everyday and become a better shooter," Fox said, who also played soccer for the Carleton Ravens.
"But if I don't practice with my team, we aren't going to be able to win. And I think there's a parallel to the workplace. There are some things that we need to do together."
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With files from CBC's Power & Politics