More self-described members of public sector unions — 47 per cent to 41 per cent — support the federal plan to return to the office three days a week in September, a new Angus Reid Institute survey shows.
The poll does not say what unions the surveyed bureaucrats belong to, or whether they work for federal or provincial governments.
Generally, the results from the survey indicate that a sizeable majority of Canadians — three in five — back the new policy on hybrid work. Breaking down the numbers further, the poll found that among working Canadians 54 per cent support the federal plan, while 32 per cent oppose and, among all union members, support was at 52 per cent.
Retired Canadians were the most likely to support in-office work with 79 per cent of 445 retirees in favour.
Earlier in May, the federal government confirmed plans requiring that public sector employees work in-person three days a week, with executives working four days a week in-person no later than Sept. 9.
The Reid survey polled 1,751 Canadians including full and part-time workers, retired workers, those in unions, not in unions and those in public sector unions.
Broken down by age, most Canadians of all ages surveyed supported these policies with one exception: younger women. Of female respondents aged 18-34, 47 per cent said they opposed mandated return to office policies. Men aged 55 and older were the most likely to support these policies, with 79 per cent in favour.
Driving the support for return policies is the belief from three quarters of respondents that federal workers have better working conditions than others. This sentiment is upheld across voter bases, with at least seven in 10 of CPC, Liberal, NDP and Bloc voters agreeing federal employees have favourable working conditions.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the largest union in Canada’s public sector, has promised a “summer of discontent” in response to the new changes. PSAC president Chris Aylward said that PSAC would file legal labour challenges and complaints.
Attitudes toward the policy changed somewhat if there is protracted labour confrontation. About 45 per cent of those in a public sector union believe the changes should be reversed to avoid union discontent and potential service disruptions, while 36 per cent believe the government should stay the course.
Prior to the announcement of mandated return, Ontario Premier Doud Ford had called on federal workers to return to offices to stimulate the local economy.
An additional survey sample of 156 working age Ottawa residents found that 57 per cent opposed the new mandate, while 33 per cent supported it.
In all, 81 per cent of Ottawa-based respondents agreed or strongly agreed it is not up to federal workers to revitalize downtown Ottawa.
I’m concerned that your recent Capital Current article implies the recent
Angus Reid poll results show 47% of Federal public servants approve of the federal government’s 3-day a week RTO plan. This is NOT the case, it was 47% of ALL respondents who identified as public servants, with nothing in the survey questionnaire to identify Federal PS workers. Your article did not outright state the result was for Federal PS, that but it seemed to be the implication, given how the article was headed by a picture of Federal PS picketers. And it’s certainly the message that The Ottawan took from your reporting on the poll.
It’s important that you publish a clarification to your article and let The Ottawan know that they have grossly misrepresented the data.
Michael Vickers
Ottawa
Hi Michael, thanks for reaching out to us with your concern. I’m afraid to say we will not issue a formal clarification to our story because it was not wrong in anyway and it doesn’t imply in the words used in any way that the public servants surveyed are only federal bureaucrats. The photo cutline conveyed a legitimate point that the members of PSAC are planning labour action this summer over the policy change. However, out of an abundance of caution and because this is such a hot topic, we take your point to this extent: We will add a line near the top of the story to further underline the point that there are provincial and federal PS unions and that the survey did not distinguish who belongs to what organization. As for other media outlets, we can’t control what they do even if they misread what we have written. Any complaint you have about what they have done, should be directed to them.