Federal union files complaint against CRA over work-from-home rules
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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.