Federal union files complaint against CRA over work-from-home rules

The Canada Revenue Agency sign outside the National Headquarters at the Connaught Building in Ottawa is seen on Monday, March 1, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

One of Canada's largest unions representing public servants has filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint against the Canada Revenue Agency over what it's calling an "about-face" on the issue of working from home.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada filed the complaint over the issue of telework at the bargaining table, the union said in a news release.

The complaint comes as the federal Treasury Board's rules mandating federal public service workers return to the office at least two days a week are gradually being implemented across the government.

PIPSC said their negotiators and the CRA had exchanged proposals about working from home, which employees had been doing since March 2020.

However, at a bargaining meeting last month, the CRA said it no longer had any intention of including any work language in the collective agreement, PIPSC said.

"You cannot just remove a core issue from the table – which has been established as a top priority for members – and call it anything other than a bad faith maneuver," PIPSC President Jennifer Carr said in the news release. "The CRA's about-face subverts what has already been accomplished at the table and delays or even prevents the conclusion of an agreement."

PIPSC represents more than 14,000 AFS members employed at the CRA, and 70,000 members overall.

In a statement, a CRA spokesman said the agency is committed to reaching a new collective agreement that is fair to employees and respectful of Canadian taxpayers.

"The CRA intends to maintain key flexibilities in its application of its Directive on Virtual Work Arrangements," said Adam Blondin, the agency’s director of public affairs. "The CRA has continuously engaged the unions on how we will navigate our journey to a hybrid work environment, and will continue to do so."

The government instituted its new hybrid work model across the public service last month, requiring employees to work in the office two or three days a week. Many employees had been working remotely since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shift is happening gradually, with all departments required to have the new hybrid work model in place by the end of March.

PIPSC and the Public Service Alliance of Canada have expressed staunch opposition to the plan, calling it a one-size-fits all approach.

"The pandemic forced governments to modernize labour practices, and these practices need to be embedded into employee contracts," Carr said. "It protects everyone. It's just good labour practice."

PSAC filed its own labour board complaint against the federal government in December over the hybrid work plan.