Explaining ‘remote work’ as a strike demand | About That

Striking federal public servants' demands aren’t just about wages. They're also about remote work. Andrew Chang and CBC News reporter Nisha Patel explore why remote work has become such a sticking point in negotiations.

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[charbelmaroun]

The gov departments need a major spring cleaning, needs to get gutted

[snowy]

Pheeew, Quebec approves over 20% pay increase for politicians in just one year!
Is the public opposing that?

[kravinoff]

Why hasn’t the emergency act been evoked? And the bank account closed if anyone donating to their cause?

[melaniebenoist]

The crazy thing is I enjoyed working in the office when most people were home, is much quieter and productive. I support people who can do their job from home effectively to do so because it makes my commute and job easier too.

[Eric-lxhp]

What about environmentally friendly? With a government so insistent on carbon taxes up the Ying Yang. Untold savings in people in traffic by working from home!!!

[mikeinalberta]

They want a raise and don't want to leave their home.
Wow!
2023 Canada!

[appolop]

Those that want to work at home get a 25% cut on their salaries. How about that!!!

[PerryFromThe]

yes please keep the people who want to work at home at home, the roads are congested as it is

[Lord.Kiltridge]

If I could work from home, my wife and I would move away from Toronto to somewhere that we can access much, much cheaper real estate, and have a home that we can eventually afford to retire in.
Working from home is cheaper as there are no commuting costs, you get cheaper and healthier food options, fewer cars and busses is better for the environment, less chance of being injured in a traffic accident or getting sick from a co-worker, and a better work/family balance as there is no time lost commuting. I think it's a stunningly obvious thing to do whenever you can. Anyone who says they need you to return to an office is really just admitting that they don't know how to supervise your work remotely. Which is an employer problem, not an employee problem.

[bobjohnson]

being on strike to work at home is crazy. A lot of people weren't offered the privilege of staying home. My life never stopped because of covid. This is costing us how much. Want to work at home, go home and stay home. Your boss is the people of Canada. Get real. We have too many federal employees as it is. $40 billion dollars more a year since 2015.

[evalangley]

David, I am a public servant and the pandemic shown us that doing our work remotely is entirely possible. In fact, it is way more productive in my case. If the Hybrid Work shown us is that is Hybrid meetings are chaotic, however virtual meeting or in-person meeting work well. I would even say that virtual meetings are better because you can reach a higher number of stakeholders.

[geezyme]

One thing that isn't mentioned is that when they say go back to the office, it means going back to any office near you so some offices are at 150% capacity if not more. So you're going into the office but still going to video chat with your It's ridiculous and a waste of taxpayer money

[taxicamel]

"REMOTE WORK" ...for how many people? Remote working has been proven to be a very abused perk. IF remote work is going to be considered, it should be considered ONLY if the keyboard is being monitored. This 155, 000 workers ....of which no one know how many people might be able to work remotely. If there is no monitoring system, then there WILL be abuses GUARANTEED.

And IF remote working is being considered THEN there should be no considering any kind of wage increase over what has been offered ....9% over three years.

Just imagine these people already making $120, 000 demanding a "FAIR WAGE".

Those making the higher salaries should NOT be offered the same pay raises because they would receive MORE MONEY than those making lesser wages. PUBLIC SECTOR UNIONS SHOULD ALL BE DE-CERTIFIED AND MADE ILLEGAL ALL ACROSS CANADA IN ALL THREE GOVERNMENT LEVELS. THEY ARE ALL A PART OF THE PROBLEM OF INFLATION ....CREATING HARDSHIPS ON ALL CANADIANS ...WHO ARE THE ONES FUNDING THESE CONSTANT PAY RAISES.

.

[jonathanmurphy]

My fear about remote work is that once companies realize they don't need you in the office they could also outsource your job to another country and save lots of money.

[charbelmaroun]

Fire half of them that don’t do any work and just are a leech on the tax payer

[jazznickel]

I have no issues over remote work. It works well in my office.
Those who work directly with the public can't work at home.
There is also a huge security risk when employees who access people's personal records, work from home.
Implementing working from home has a lot of issues and is not a clear cut issue.
In my office, it slows everything down. Though I can contact people directly, and sometimes they answer me. We are at a complete loss with general communications in the office. The at-work culture is gone. The desks here are empty. People's work is getting done, but we don't have quotas, and people aren't standing in line here for service.The other thing which is lost is training - virtually no mentorship and learning is going on.
It's just not the same.

[kierm]

outsourcing is better and cheaper compared letting locals work remote and expensive. 😂

[chuckcadger]

I can tell you from experience with the CRA (22phone calls) hybrid, work from home does not work because they can't transfer to another department or supervisor. Still waiting for a response from them for over a year about the assessment they did on my 21 taxes.

[jenniferjones]

Also as a disabled veteran i was hired as a teleworker based on my abilities. Now they still haven't guaranteed that i can maintain this agreement

[dallasprice-waddell]

I like the idea of remote work. Less traffic in the morning on my way to work. Good for congested cities too!