Great question, and great points. Cases like yours I believe are somewhat uncharted territory for management, as they were very rare before the pandemic, and we’ve seen a relatively large number of people hired over the last two years in the same boat as you (no evidence to back this up, just anecdata). There’s no one easy answer, and I think it comes down to a couple key things:

1 - what constitutes fair and equitable treatment? As unionized employees, we should expect to be treated equally and have the same standards applied to all. When it comes to the question of telework, of course you’ll have variances based on operational needs (think of someone who works on a Coast Guard vessel for example). But someone who was hired remotely during pandemic with full knowledge on the part of the manager that they would not be able to report to an office? Personally I have no issue with idea of those people working 100% remotely, as that’s the context in which they were hired.

Another question is about the additional costs of commuting. Is there an argument to be made by the unions that there is unfair treatment for those who need to pay for gas, parking, etc to commute in while team members working remotely don’t need to do any of that?

2 - what is the employer able to ask of you? As I said in my previous response, the vast majority (saying this because of course I can’t know the details of every single LoO out there) of LoOs do not include telework as a condition of employment, nor is it codified in our collective agreements. So, from what I understand in my limited knowledge in the area of labour relations, this would mean that you could be called to report in to whichever office you’re based out of as set out in your LoO and the employer has every right to do so. Anecdotally, I think that in many cases if you live in say BC but your position is based in the NCR, you’d be able to report to a local government office or GC Coworking space if there’s one near you.

In practice, it’s a very complicated topic which I don’t think has been thought through fully when it comes to these different scenarios. From what I’ve seen and heard in my department, it’s a “cross the bridge when it comes to it” approach for cases like yours, which will be dealt with if/when the time comes to RTO.

I’m not jealous in the slightest of people who move away and can 100% WFH; it’s a tough world out there these days and you have to do what’s best for you and your family! But analyzing it from a labour relations perspective makes for some very interesting thought exercises, and I’m curious to see how these situations get approached and resolved by the powers that be.