ACFO-ACAF is aware of rumours circulating about a pending announcement of an increased return to the office mandate. At this point, we have not been consulted on any change to the existing mandate nor have we been informed of any pending changes.
Following the last unilateral and arbitrary change to the in-office requirements, ACFO-ACAF filed an unfair labour practice complaint and policy grievance over the lack of consultation. As part of the response to those actions, the employer and ACFO-ACAF established a consultation committee to ensure ACFO-ACAF would be consulted on any future changes.
To this point, we have not been consulted nor made aware of any pending changes. We have asked our partners on this committee for clarification.
In the meantime, we would like to remind the employer of the following things:
- Flexible work arrangements, including hybrid work, lead to a more productive public service that better reflects the needs of a diverse workforce.
- Adding more commuters to already-congested city streets undermines Canada’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and puts additional stresses on families and workers.
- While other jurisdictions choose to implement regressive workplace policies in response to clear political pressure, the federal government has an opportunity to be a leader and an employer of choice by committing to hybrid work and helping the public service meet the moment in a period of change and innovation.
While location of work ultimately remains an employer right, that right comes with an obligation to honour agreements reached with ACFO-ACAF about meaningful consultation. We have repeatedly approached this issue with good faith and we expect the employer will be honest with us. We will use every means of recourse available to us to ensure the employer honours their obligations.