I met with CRA Commissioner Bob Hamilton on May 2nd, along with UTE President Marc Brière. While I can’t say that I was surprised by the outcome, it is still disappointing.
In spite of all the formal and informal feedback and even official survey results that indicate the negative impacts on our members, our CRA Commissioner chose for the Agency to worsen the work life balance and stress levels and productivity of our AFS members.
Following our meeting, we held an impromptu demonstration outside of CRA Headquarters building and some demonstrations sprung up in other offices. Local presidents are encouraged to do the same in the upcoming weeks and share their photos with us. More to follow.
It’s more important than ever for our union to help our members in this time of need.
We are working with PIPSC and our colleagues in the Union of Taxation Employees to push back against these arbitrary and unjustified actions by our Employer.
We met with management twice in the week before the announcement. We asked if anything was changing in the requirement for onsite office presence. We were told there was no news. Media reports now say that discussions were ongoing for months. It’s unacceptable that CRA management chose to withhold information of such importance to our AFS members. This is disrespectful to our union and our members.
CRA signed an agreement to consult with us on telework. It was understood, and promised, that these consultations would include the requirement for onsite office presence. This was disregarded by CRA.
To announce an increase to the requirement for onsite office presence before our consultations had even begun is an insult to our AFS Group and all of our AFS members.
We will do everything in our power …
- to challenge this decision
- to ensure your working conditions are safe for your physical and mental well-being
- to support your accommodation requests
- and to support your having a healthy work-life balance
Please contact a member of our AFS Executive if you have any questions or concerns https://pipsc.ca/groups/afs/executive
In solidarity
Doug Mason
President, AFS Group
On behalf of our AFS Executive