Unions, public service employees speak out against Ontario return to office policy

Ontario’s mandatory for authorities employees to bring back to power cinque days a week has kicked in starting Monday, much to the dismay of unions and public service workers. 

The mandate is a “throwback to an earlier era” and doesn’t make sense given the challenges of a full-time return policy, such as a lack of adequate office space and long commutes, said JP Hornick, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). 

“A blanket mandate for five days a week, it makes no sense in this day and age,” they said.

Hornick also said not everyone will be returning to office this week, as some organizations, like the LCBO, have had to delay the mandate due to lack of office space.

About 10,000 alternative work arrangement requests were also filed by employees, they said, but the union has not yet heard of any applications being reviewed or responded to. 

The logistical confusion raises an even larger concern of why workers’ and the union were not consulted prior to the order, said Hornick. 

Ford says Ontario is 'working on' office space as public service workers return full-time

“We should be asking who is this benefiting in the end? It's certainly not benefiting Ontarians,” said Hornick. “The return to work seems to be based on pressure from perhaps corporate landlords from other municipalities.”

This past August, Ford ordered provincial government employees to return to office full-time in the new year. It was a change from the previous policy in place since April 2022, mandating workers to be in office three days a week. 

Ford said at the time that it would increase workers’ productivity and support small businesses that relied on downtown foot traffic. 

But Hornick disagrees, noting that time spent in traffic or commutes will impact workers’ efficiency instead and may hurt businesses outside the downtown core that flourished when people worked from home. 

“So the time wasted along [Highway] 401 is time that could be better spent actually at work, but from home or in a remote location,” they said. 

At an unrelated news conference, Ford said there is space available for “the majority” of employees and that office space concern “is a little bump” in the road. 

Problems with traffic and commutes won’t be “any worse than two years ago,” he said, especially with the push for a tunnel under Highway 401 and more transit options opening up with the upcoming Eglinton LRT.

“It's great to get everyone back to work like every other normal citizen,” said Ford. 

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members at Ontario Health atHome organized a provincewide day of action Monday to protest the return-to-office mandate. 

Workers marched outside in the cold during their lunch break to demand a return to the hybrid model, which helped save costs and provide a better quality of life, said Jessica Bondoc, a care coordinator with Health atHome.

“To be able to stay home saved us gas money, and you’re a bit more productive at work — we’re all crammed in this office and it’s not productive,” she said

Rita Poutsoungas, team assistant at Health atHome, said it’s been frustrating, especially considering how the province could save money on a hybrid model. 

“What’s the purpose of us coming in five days a week, if we were working fine, not only during COVID, but during the last couple of years,” she said.

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