Three biggest federal public sector unions challenge Liberal government's 'punitive' vaccine mandate for bureaucrats

Christopher Nardi - 

POSTMEDIA

As of March 29, 1,828 federal employees were on unpaid leave due to the vaccination policy, according to numbers shared by Treasury Board Secretariat with unions in April.

OTTAWA – The three biggest federal public sector unions are challenging the Liberal’s vaccine mandate for bureaucrats in court, arguing suspending unvaccinated workers without pay instead of letting them work from home is “punitive” and “unjustified.”

“We continue to support vaccination. But given … the loosening of the COVID restrictions and the shifting landscape, we’re of the opinion that employer’s policy right now is unreasonable. These members can work from home,” Jennifer Carr, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), said in an interview.

“Effectively, we think it is punitive and an abuse of management authority.”

Within the last week, the National Post has learned that both PIPSC and the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE), which represent nearly 60,000 and 21,000 public servants respectively, have filed policy grievances against the federal government’s vaccine mandate for bureaucrats.

Their challenges are in addition to the first grievances filed in late March by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the biggest federal government union.

At issue: the Trudeau government’s federal COVID-19 vaccine policy put in place on Oct. 6, 2021, which forced all bureaucrats to either get vaccinated with two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or be suspended without pay (except those who obtained exemptions to the policy).

The unions say that working from home has become readily available for so many public servants that it’s time to let the unvaccinated employees who can work outside the office effectively do so.

Thousands on unpaid leave as Liberals late updating public service vaccine mandate

As of March 29, 1,828 employees were on unpaid leave due to the vaccination policy, according to numbers shared by Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) with unions in April.

“As the pandemic has evolved and the science has developed, we believe continuing to put unvaccinated employees on leave without pay is a harsh administrative measure that can be considered disciplinary and without just cause,” PSAC said when it announced its grievances.

They’re also frustrated that the government has yet to complete a review of the policy once since it was implemented, despite its own requirements.

A copy of TBS’ vaccine policy online says the government’s chief human resources officer is responsible for reviewing both the need of the policy and its contents “at a minimum every 6 months” and reporting those results to the minister.

Since the policy kicked in on Oct. 6, 2021, that means the first review was due by April 6.

But union heads say that date came and went without a peep from TBS, and the latest update meeting between them and government officials on Tuesday didn’t provide any new insight into when the review will be made public.

“Not only have they failed not to give us a position, they failed to let us know when they’re going to come up with a position,” Carr said. “We had a call (Tuesday), and they still can’t give us a tentative date.”

“At this point, it seems like it’s in a black hole,” she added. “That leaves a lot of public servants in limbo.”

TBS spokesperson Alain Belle-Isle said in a statement that the review is currently underway “in line with the requirement” and the results will be presented “in due course.”

“There is no obligation to update the policy every 6 months,” he said, adding that roughly 99 per cent of employees attested to being fully vaccinated.

“We are taking the time required to conduct a detailed review, which considers the evolving public health context, the latest science, and the advice of public health official,” his statement continues.

But now, the unions are asking the federal labour relations tribunal via their policy grievances to force the government to allow unvaccinated employees currently suspended without pay to be accommodated by allowing them to work from home.

They’re also asking that the government be compelled to reimburse all the bureaucrats still affected by the vaccine mandate for lost wages since April 6 (the date they say the policy needed to be reviewed).

For CAPE President Greg Phillips, working from home has become such an established practice amongst his members that the government’s vaccine policy is akin to asking someone who works in construction to wear a hard hat even if they’re working from home.

“My members are basically all office workers. For the past two years, only a statistically insignificant number of people have actually had to go into the office,” he said, adding that barely 100 of his 21,000 federal public service members are currently suspended due to the vaccine

“What we’re saying is that if you have to go into the office, you should be vaccinated, as much as if you’re going into a construction zone, you have to wear steel toed shoes.”

Carr says that the situation today is very different from two years ago, and vaccines are not the only tool the public service has to keep its employees safe from COVID-19 going forward.

“They have to look at other health and safety measures that are appropriate. Again, working from home is one of those, as well as keeping people out of contact, but also ventilation rates and spacing and masking if applicable,” she said.