I have been following closely the changing landscape when it comes to Workplaces and the new Return to Office Mandate. I am aware of the issues we face when it comes to our place of work, both in person and virtually. In the past I helped develop tools to help our members have discussions with their management on the workspace issues they face. What the pandemic has shown us is that, as professionals, we are able to work from anywhere.
PIPSC has developed many tools to help our members and as an organization we should be doing more. Our departmental consultation teams should have better support with which to push back on horrible policies and interpretations of TBS policy. Members at the grassroots need to be informed locally what their rights are and what they can do to protect themselves. Finally, we should be lobbying at all levels from Municipal to Provincial to Federal to demonstrate the impact our members have on their communities and how these policies are hurting them and the taxpayers they serve.
I promise to continue to fight to ensure you have a range of choices for your workspaces, ranging from dedicated space in office buildings, full-time telework and hybrids of those two models.
For more info on the tools PIPSC has developed visit:
https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/open-workplaces
https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/know-your-rights-return-to-office
https://pipsc.ca/news-issues/return-to-workplace/faq-returning-to-workplace