Federal government employees began working three days a week as required on Monday, but encountered some hiccups on the way back to the office.
The federal government announced in May that employees would be required to come into the office three days a week instead of two, starting September 9. Executives will now have to be in the office at least four days a week.
Unions have vowed to fight back ever since the announcement.
Workers in the capital region faced traffic congestion, a lack of office space, technology issues, difficulties finding parking and increased spending at downtown businesses.
Let’s take a look back at what happened this week.
Traffic congestion and parking problems
Roads were busier than usual last week as workers flooded the downtown core.
The situation was made worse on Tuesday when Ottawa’s LRT was suspended for an hour during the morning rush hour and replaced with R1 buses, forcing many people to drive to work rather than take public transport.
On Wednesday, Radio-Canada timed the commute from Lorraine Street in Gatineau’s east end to downtown Ottawa, which usually takes 20 to 30 minutes. This week, people were stuck on Highway 50 for as long as two hours.
When office workers finally arrived downtown, many had trouble finding parking spaces, and many were surprised at how expensive it was.
CBC Ottawa has received many messages about this story in its inbox, including this one.
“Yesterday, when I left the parking lot below the building where I work, I was surprised to see that the parking fee had increased from $20 to $23.”
Lack of office space
Radio-Canada contacted about 15 federal departments to ask about their plans for reopening to offices this week, with some acknowledging they can’t meet the demand for office space.
- The Canada Social Security Agency said not all workplaces can support all employees working a three-day week, so it is granting a temporary exemption that will be reviewed annually.
- Employment and Social Development Canada may not have enough space at its 10 offices, a spokesman said.
- Housing, Infrastructure and Community Affairs Canada said it doesn’t have the office space in the Ottawa-Gatineau region to move to a three-day workweek because of its expanded scope of work. Senior executives will be in the office four days a week, but other staff will only be able to come in two days a week, the ministry said.
- Similarly, Statistics Canada staff in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will continue to work two days a week, the agency said.
Other departments responded that they had enough office space to accommodate all employees three days a week.
People who wrote to CBC Ottawa said they were unable to find seats near their teams and there were issues with the desk reservation system.
A spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told Radio-Canada that the department has enough available office space to accommodate the change to a three-day work week.
“PSPC will always provide sufficient office space to enable Federal departments and agencies to carry out their programs and missions,” the spokesperson wrote.
Tensions rise between unions, mayors and businesses
The Capital Region chapter of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) on Wednesday urged its members to “not buy anything” downtown when they return to the office, with the idea that the measure is part of a strategy to boost downtown businesses.
“The needs of the downtown core should not be placed at the expense of Labour or federal civil servants,” the paper argued, “how Labour spends its money while in office sends a clear message to politicians.”
PSAC also encouraged members to bring their own lunches and shop locally whenever possible.
On Wednesday evening, the union changed its messaging from “buy nothing” to “buy local.”
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe echoed the union’s call. On social media And then at the press conference afterwards.
“Downtown businesses are not in charge of the decision to reopen,” Sutcliffe wrote Wednesday. “They have been hit hard as a result of the pandemic. Let’s take the hits away from them. Let’s support them and help our downtown thrive.”
On Thursday, Ruth Lau McDonald, vice president of PSAC’s Capital Region chapter, apologized in a statement.
“PSAC-NCR is do not have We are calling for a boycott of downtown businesses and apologize for the impact and confusion this misunderstanding has caused,” McDonald wrote.
The post was deleted on Thursday.
