Not just wages, federal workers strike for ability to work from home

It's day two of the federal public service employee strike, that's seen more than 150,000 people hit the picket lines across the country.

Wages aren't the only issue. There’s also the topic of remote work, and continuing to give the option to work from home to employees who can, and have done so, throughout the pandemic.

While the federal government is calling for workers to come back to the office, the union and employees say remote work is working and the pandemic has shown its effectiveness.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) says it wants employees to have that hybrid option available going forward.

"We had to turn on a dime and everyone had to work from home because we didn't know what to do and we needed these services to continue," said Moe Gautreau, a Service Canada employee and strike captain in Halifax.

In December, the federal government called for employees to return to the office, and as of April 1, asked employees to be in the office two or three days a week.

PSAC says changing the terms and conditions of its members’ employment and putting a mandatory return to offices in place, "is an egregious violation of workers’ collective bargaining rights."

Dozens of public service employees marched on the picket line, outside the Service Canada and Passport Centre in downtown Halifax Thursday.

"All of a sudden they turn around and they are asking us all to come back to the office on pretty short notice, without a real good explanation as to why," said Gautreau.

PSAC wants to see those who can work from home continue to do so with protections in place, so management can't pick and choose who is in and out, and on what days. The union wants this rule in writing, and in its collective agreement.

A union rep says employees have adjusted to working remotely and it comes down to a quality of life issue.

"Productivity wise it has probably improved, to my knowledge, it has definitely improved," Odeisa Stewart, a strike captain and an employee with Employment and Social Development Canada. "When you think of work/home life-balance and peoples' willingness to go above and beyond when working from home."

A recent Angus Reid poll shows employers are struggling to get workers to return to the office.

Half of those who returned to the workplace said their boss decided to bring them back.

The fight for a hybrid work model could be an example for other employees, even those in the private sector, said Gautreau.

"Unions always set precedence and that might help the person in the private workforce who can't work from home," said Gautreau.