NDP fight to reverse federal return-to-office mandate

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated it was a return to work mandate in the headline.

When federal public servants were mandated to return to work in office three days per week starting in September, union representatives argued offices may not be able to accommodate the influx of in-person employees.

Two months later, it seems the roads workers take to get to the office, are also burgeoning under the pressure. That is one of the arguments being made by the Ottawa Centre NDP, a community organization supporting the NDP ahead of the 2025 federal election.

“Traffic in Ottawa has gotten out of control since the government ordered federal employees back into the office,” Gabriel Trozzi Stamou, Federal Pre-Election Organizer, said in a release.

The organization is calling on citizens to sign a petition reversing the order and allowing public servants to spend more time working remotely.

“The COVID-19 pandemic showed that many office workers in the private and public sector can do their jobs from home,” Trozzi Stamou said. “With so many cars on the road, it just doesn’t make sense to make workers commute to a zoom call.”

Public servants began spending three days in the office starting early September after previous legislation beginning in March 2023 only required two in-office workdays.

The move has received considerable pushback from workers and their representative unions. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) took its concerns to the Federal Court which has agreed to hear the case.

“The Federal Court’s decision to hear our case is an important win for federal workers fighting for a fair and transparent approach to telework,” said union president Sharon DeSousa in a statement to the Canadian Press in August.

In the meantime, workers are fighting back in other ways. The PSAC has asked members to “buy nothing” from downtown businesses standing in opposition to the return-to-work measures. But this effort has ramifications for businesses not involved in the mandate.

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe expressed his dissatisfaction in a post on X, highlighting the suffering local businesses have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Downtown businesses are not responsible for decisions about back to work,” he said. “They’ve suffered significantly as a result of the pandemic – let’s keep them out of the line of fire”.